Military mourns two officers killed in Canada Day plane crash in Manitoba

Air force mourns death of two members in crash Flags flew at half-mast at 17-Wing after two air force members died in a plane crash Friday.

The names of two men killed in a Canada Day plane crash near Winnipeg have been released.

The Canadian Air Division/Canadian NORAD Region headquarters in Winnipeg has confirmed that Capt. Bradley Ashcroft and Capt. Zachary Cloutier-Gill were the victims of Friday’s crash.

Their four-passenger single-engine civilian aircraft went down around 9:30 a.m. Friday, shortly after taking off from Lyncrest Airport near Deacon’s Corner, Man., 18 kilometres east of Winnipeg.

They were the only people on the plane.

According to the Winnipeg chapter of the Recreational Aircraft Association, which owned the 20-year-old Piper PA 28-140 aircraft, the officers were beginner to intermediate fliers and weather conditions were optimal.

The Transportation Safety Board is currently investigating the incident. The cause of the crash remains unknown.

Together, the two officers had nearly 20 years of military service. Ashcroft served in the Canadian Armed Forces for more than nine years and was a member of the CAF’s construction engineering branch. Cloutier-Gill served for nearly 12 years and was an Air Combat Systems Officer.

According to David Lavallee, a spokesperson with 1 CAD/CANR, neither officer was a pilot by trade.

“We are not aware of which man was the pilot,” he said.

“This is certainly a tragedy. We’ve lost two members of our family. No matter what the circumstances it’s tragic and right now our focus in on supporting the families.”

With files from CTV Winnipeg