A plane involved in a historic northern Saskatchewan plane crash that tragically claimed the lives of two people has now been refurbished and is on display at the Saskatchewan Aviation Museum.
On August 20, 1959, Conservation Officer Harold Thompson and Pilot Ray Gran lost their lives when their plane crashed while flying over Big Peter Pond Lake.
In July 2018, the wreckage was located at the bottom of the lake and in January of the following year a dive team helped recover the two men’s remains and belongings, as well as parts of the Cessna 180 CF-JDO aircraft.
Doug Chisholm was part of a team tasked with using some of those parts to make a display now featured at the Saskatchewan Aviation Museum in Saskatoon.
“It’s a replica and what I feel to be a fitting tribute to that Cessna 180 that went missing in 1959 and the two souls on board,” Chisholm told MBC Radio News when speaking on the display.
The aircraft was repainted as it would have appeared in 1959 with two mannequins standing beside it wearing the uniforms Thompson and Gran would have worn during their flight.
Adorning the back of the display is also a large piece of art by La Ronge artist Roger Jerome.
The display was officially unveiled at a ceremony in June with members of the Thompson and Gran families in attendance.
Chisholm says he was honoured to be a part of capturing this important piece of northern Saskatchewan history.
“It’s a lasting tribute and for anyone who makes their way to the Saskatchewan Aviation Museum they can reflect on those times and that story,” said Chisholm.
(Photo courtesy of the Sasaktchewan Association of Conservations Officers Facebook page.)