Club grieves loss of pilot

Airplane club members honoured and remembered one of their pilots who was the victim of a July crash near Dugald.

Oakbank RCMP responded to a reported crash on July 26 and found a two-seat privately owned aircraft destroyed. Officers recovered the body of the sole victim, RCMP said.

The Transportation Safety Board of Canada has begun investigating the circumstance of the crash.

A local flying club, which runs out of the Lyncrest Airport, identified pilot Peter Toth as the victim in a Facebook post.

James Slade, president of the Experimental Aircraft Association Winnipeg Chapter 63, shared a hangar with Peter. When he received the news about the crash, he was shocked.

“We want to give our deepest sympathies for the family,” he said. “We’re all really heartbroken. He was a really nice, helpful guy.”

Slade first met Toth while working on restoring an Emeraude airplane, vintage two-seat prop plane similar to Cesna or Piper models. He said the Toth was one of the first people who tackled the project in 2020 when the club started the restoration.

Since Toth had background working with electronics, Slade said much of the necessary wiring for the radios and transponders were done by him. Toth was meticulous in his work restoring the airplane, and many times people would go asking him to check if something was done properly, Slade said.

He said the club will keep working on the plane and get it into the air to honour his memory.

“We’ll make sure that we’ll have it flying as he would’ve liked to see it,” he said.

People would often stop by the hangar where he worked because he would offer his expertise or lend his tools if something needed help, Slade said.

He said Toth received his recreational flying permit a couple months ago and also got his seaplane rating so he could land on water.

Toth restored and flew his own plane, a Quad City Challenger II, which is an unique aircraft because it has the propeller behind the cockpit.

Slade was on the field for the first flight Toth had in his plane when it completed. He remembers Toth being “just elated” when he landed.

“It’s such a tremendous feeling. Imagine building your own boat and taking out on the water for the first time,” he said.

He said the flying community has rallied around each other following Toth’s death and has been supportive.

“We’ll never forget his smile and his helpfulness,” said Slade. “He will truly be missed.”