Two people died when a Cessna 172 light aircraft crashed near Kisbey, a community in Canada's southeastern Saskatchewan province, on a night training flight early on Friday, Sept 18, the flight school that owns the aircraft said.

Adam Penner, president of Harv's Air, said in a statement that the aircraft was registered to the school, which is based in St. Andrews in Manitoba province. It was flying from Regina, the Saskatchewan capital, to Steinbach in Manitoba, with a stop planned at Carlyle in Saskatchewan. Penner said both people on board were licensed pilots who had rented the aircraft to build flying hours toward their commercial pilot licences.

The aircraft was reported overdue to the Transportation Safety Board of Canada (TSB), the country's air accident investigator, at 10:30 a.m. local time (CDT). The Joint Rescue Coordination Centre in Trenton, which leads air and maritime search operations in Canada, coordinated the response.

Lieutenant Zoë Hollander, a public affairs officer at the centre, said a Canadian military CC-138 Hercules aircraft from 435 Squadron located the crash site. Search and rescue technicians then parachuted in. She said the centre handed the case to the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) once the search and rescue phase was complete.

According to the flight school, the aircraft was found at about 6 p.m. CDT, and both people on board were dead at the scene. The school said "the entire Harv's Air family is shocked and saddened by this tragedy" and extended condolences to the families and friends of the two pilots.

The TSB, Transport Canada and the RCMP are working with the school to determine the cause of the crash. A TSB spokesperson told SaskToday that investigators were expected at the site around midday on Saturday.

The authorities have not released the identities of the two pilots, and the cause of the crash is still under investigation.

CBC reported that this event is the third incident involving Harv's Air since January 2025. In January 2025, a small aircraft's propeller struck an instructor, seriously injuring them as a student tried to start its engine. In July 2025, two student pilots died when their single-engine aircraft collided in midair during a training exercise.

Source: CBC News