Former Premier Jim Prentice among four dead in Kelowna plane crash

660 NEWS has learned that one of the four people killed a plane crash in the Okanagan was former Alberta Premier Jim Prentice. He was 60 years old.

In a statement, Prentice’s family says one of the other people in the plane was the father-in-law to one of their daughters.

“Words cannot begin to express our profound shock and heartbreak at the news that our beloved husband, father and grandfather, Jim, has died in this tragic event.

“In addition, another member of our family was also on the plane, Ken Gellatly, the father-in-law of one of our daughters, also a very special man.

“To lose two family members at once is unbelievably painful and we are certain you will appreciate and respect our wishes for privacy at this time and the coming weeks.

“We are also thinking of the other families who have been affected by this tragedy and our thoughts and prayers are with them.

“In the time Jim has been with us, he was a friend to many. Jim was a loving and compassionate man who dedicated his life to his family and public service. He will be so greatly missed.

“We are certainly appreciative of your condolences and prayers at this terrible time.”

Ken Gallatly is also a well-known optometrist in Calgary.

The other two people on board have not been identified.

The Transportation Safety Board confirms four people were killed after a twin-engine jet went down in some hills north of Kelowna.

The Cessna Citation 550 took off from Kelowna just after 10:00 p.m., Thursday. It was en route to Springbank Airport, near Calgary, when something went wrong.

“They dropped off radar, they lost their target at about 8,600 feet on the climb-out. The search [teams] found the wreckage just northeast of Winfield [B.C.] Tragically, everyone lost their lives,” explains Bill Yearwood with the Transportation Safety Board.

The crash site was located by Mounties about four kilometers into a heavily wooded area north of Beaver Lake Road east of Lake Country.

A team of investigators is tasked with determining the cause of the crash.

The Coroner in Kelowna has been notified and the RCMP is involved.

The Cessna 550 is a regional commuter jet, not the brand’s typical single engine propeller plane, and it’s more often used by business commuters.

The BC Coroners service has taken over the investigation, working closely with the TSB and RCMP, tasked with figuring out why the plane went down.

They state this will be a complex scene to investigate and they do not expect to release any further information until Monday at the earliest.