What happened
On the evening of the incident, an aircraft departed from Calgary International Airport in Alberta, bound for Hillsboro, Oregon. The flight was operating under night instrument flight rules (IFR) and carried a total of five people, consisting of the pilot and four passengers.
During the transit, the aircraft vanished from radar monitoring provided by the Vancouver Area Control Centre at approximately 19:46 MST, while positioned near Castlegar, British Columbia. Following the loss of radar contact, the Victoria Rescue Coordination Centre initiated search operations. Despite coordinated efforts between Canadian and American search teams and the use of radar fixes to track the last known position, the aircraft could not be found for several days. No signal from the emergency locator transmitter was detected during the initial search period.
On 14 June 1996, searchers identified the wreckage at an elevation of roughly 6,700 feet above sea level. The debris was located at coordinates 49°14'48"N, 117°03'20"W. The impact and subsequent fire resulted in the total destruction of the aircraft and caused five fatalities.
Findings
Investigation of the site revealed that the aircraft was destroyed by the forces of impact and a post-crash fire.