FINDING the NEEDLE in a HAYSTAC K uffalo Narrows, in tion officer became a bit too exciting one Northern , would day when, as a passenger, the plane he Bbe considered a remote and was in flipped over and crashed into the challenging duty station for any conser- trees. Uninjured and undeterred by the vation officer, but even more so in 1959 accident, Thompson continued his game before the advent of GPS, satellite phones, and mod- warden career by moving his wife Charlotte and ern radios. Poaching cases required CO’s to travel by their son Perry to . any means possible to get to the most remote por- On August 20th of 1959, Thompson had a poaching tions of their patrol areas, making an already dan- file to investigate in the area of , Saskatch- gerous job even more so. In 1959, the conservation ewan. He enlisted the aid of pilot Ray Gran to fly officer stationed in Buffalo Narrows was a 27-year him the 91 km (57 miles) from Buffalo Narrows to old by the name of Harold Thompson. La Loche. At 36-years of age, Gran was already an In 1885, Thompson’s family had emigrated from experienced pilot, and had previously earned the Norway. Like many, this journey took them to Ellis Distinguished Flying Cross in WWII. After the war, Island. Born in Saskatchewan on a family farm, Gran had flown a variety of aircraft in different appli- Harold was one of thirteen children (six boys and cations from mail transport to assisting conservation seven girls). In high school, Thompson excelled as a officers, but for this particular trip Gran was flying a local track star, shattering several records. Harold Government of Saskatchewan Cessna 180 on floats. joined the Saskatchewan Department of The Cessna 180 (tail registration CF- Natural Resources in 1955 as a trainee JDO) has a reputation for a solid, depend- and, in 1957, graduated as a conservation able, and versatile bush plane capable of officer. While stationed in Saskatchewan’s carrying men and equipment deep into City, Harold’s life as a conserva- the bush, on tundra tires, skis, or floats.

20 • INTERNATIONAL GAME WARDEN • FALL 2019 August 20th, 1959 was a day ern Search and Supply) to help with as each year passed, neither man the in a like any other summer day in northern the search. An electromagnetic locater, would ever be forgotten. In 1987 FINDING NEEDLE Saskatchewan, except for the blanket pulled by snow machines, was employed Linda Gran married Don Kapusta. of fog surrounding the area. Ray Gran once the lake froze over. Searchers knew The more Don learned about the fate said goodbye to his wife Marcella, who the aircraft, and its two occupants, laid of the father-in-law he never met, the was pregnant with their daughter somewhere on the bottom of Peter Pond more dedicated he and his wife Linda (Linda), and headed to the plane for the Lake, but they lacked the technology to became in locating and recovering standard pre-flight process. locate a submerged aircraft in a lake so the aircraft and the remains of Ray By 10:00 a.m., the fog had lifted just large, even though the maximum depth and Harold. In particular, Linda enough to depart Buffalo Narrows. of the lake is only 24 m (79 ft.). After all wanted to solve this mystery for her Gran was cleared to fly, however the reasonable efforts had been made, the mother Marcella. Their quest grew adverse weather conditions quickly legs in July of 2017, when Don and AC K deteriorated, forcing Gran to turn Linda began the process of try- AYST back to the safety of the Buffalo ing to locate the needle in a H Narrows. The first indica- haystack. Don and Linda tion the flight had gone initially planned to do terribly wrong was when the search themselves, the people in the adjacent but before long they villages heard the crash, both realized their which they reported to the best hope, was to find local RCMP. an underwater salvage Adjacent to the town of expert, who would employ Buffalo Narrows lies Peter state-of the-art sonar tech- Pond Lake, an enormous lake with nology. Their research led them a surface area of 552 sq. km (213 sq. to Garry Kozak. miles) and 124 km (77 miles) of shore- search was Kozak not only had the expertise line. On this foggy morning, few boats suspended for (with over 40 years of underwater were out on the lake, but the occupant good. Pilot search and of one boat, Cyril Aubichon, clearly Ray Gran salvage heard a loud crash at about 10:20 a.m., and Conser- experience), which he reported to RCMP. When the vation Of- but the Cessna was deemed to be overdue, a ficer Harold technology Canadian Air Force led search began, Thompson including focusing on Peter Pond Lake. After were deemed side-scan- 10 days of searching, only some small to be lost, ning sonar. pieces of aircraft debris had been lo- in a watery When Don cated, so the search was discontinued. grave, somewhere in Peter and Linda Once the RCMP suspended the Pond Lake, Saskatchewan. first ap- search, Ray Gran’s brother Maurice Linda Rae Gran never met her father proached Kozak with their proposal, Gran (also a pilot), joined several oth- Ray, yet as she grew up and learned he was not interested. Kozak felt ers in the continuation of the search. more and more about her father, she the limited information, regarding The Northern Affairs branch of the began to feel the full weight of such a the possible location of the missing provincial government even contract- tragic loss. While the memories of Ray plane, was too incomplete to be of ed with a private search group (West- Gran and Harold Thompson faded a bit real use. Kozak explained that a lake

FALL 2019 • INTERNATIONAL GAME WARDEN • 21 the size of Peter Pond would take far more time and money to search than anyone could afford. That all changed once Linda and Don got ahold of the 200+ page crash investigation report. Kozak and the Kapusta’s studied every page of the report, witness state- ments (nobody had seen the plane due to fog, but several had heard it), weather records, and were able to narrow the search field to a 60sq. km. / 23 sq. miles which Kozak felt was manageable enough to provide them with a 50/50 chance of locating the missing plane. Knowing a search, such as this one, sat in stunned silence, staring at the late August 2018. In August of 2018, would be very expensive and was being clear image of a submerged airplane sit- the RCMP had deployed an underwater paid for out of pocket entirely by the ting just a few meters below them. After camera to photograph the wreckage. Kapusta family, Kozak generously of- nearly 60 years, it appeared CO Harold These photos confirmed they had the fered to conduct the search at a reduced Thompson and Pilot Ray correct plane, but also showed fee. Even more important, Garry Kozak Gran had been found. It was a severely damaged fuselage, was drawn by the mystery and the story late in the day, so the team re- with jagged metal protruding, of the two men lost that day. corded the exact coordinates presenting a serious threat to After almost a full year of combing of the submerged aircraft, recovery divers. through records, weather reports, lake reviewed the sonar images, As the recovery began to current graphs and charts, Kozak and and prepared for the next day. develop, Peter Pond showed the Kapusta’s felt they were ready to Tragically, in the early morn- why so many were so concerned begin the underwater search. A side- ing hours of the next day, Marcella Gran about the chances of a successful and safe scanning sonar must be towed through died without ever knowing her husband recovery, as high winds and waves make the water by boat, so Don and Linda had been found. it nearly impossible to keep the salvage/ bought a large boat to use as the search Don and Bill Kapusta immediately recovery vessels in place above the wreck- platform. Don and his brother Bill towed reported their findings with the Thomp- age. After numerous attempts, the August this boat from Toronto to Buffalo Nar- son family, the RCMP, and Transport recovery plan was abandoned, and re- rows (and back). On July 30th, 2018 the . Transport Canada felt they placed with the idea of coming back in the search officially began. A search such would not gain any new information winter when waves would not be an issue, as this one, is conducted by following a from recovering the aircraft, and that as the lake freezes solid all the way across. pre-determined grid pattern, which is it was not worth the risk to recover the In January of 2019, a base camp was then searched from each direction. Near plane. At first the RCMP said it was too located virtually on top of the wreckage, the end of the first day, while towing the difficult and dangerous to attempt a thus eliminating the 4-hour roundtrip sonar in water 18 meters / 59 feet deep, salvage of the aircraft, but later decided boat trip they had experienced before an image clearly appeared on the sonar they would formulate a plan to recover the freeze. On January 29th, 2019, with screen. “We have an airplane!” Garry the remains of Gran and Thompson, an ambient temperature of -40c/-40F Kozak announced. Everyone on the boat with a target date for the recovery of the first dive took place. RCMP dive

22 • INTERNATIONAL GAME WARDEN • FALL 2019 team members from Saskatchewan lage of Michel, the families When it came to the North- and Manitoba entered through a hole of Ray Gran and Harold ern Saskatchewan Conserva- in the two feet of ice, plunged into the Thompson, and world-re- tion Officers, Don Kapusta 4-degree Celsius (39-degree F) water nowned diver Mike Fletcher stated it best, “They were and headed to the bottom. Near zero on March 27th, 2019, the very interested in the recov- visibility meant divers maneuvered Cessna 180 was brought to ery of Harold and Raymond very slowly using powerful lights and the surface. The floats were ... and it always felt like they touch to navigate around the wreckage. raised first, followed by the had our back. Anytime we Twelve divers went down in teams of fuselage, then last were the needed help or information, two, with one remaining outside of the wings (one at a time). they were there for us.” The aircraft fuselage, waiting to receive As the first wings came bond of game wardens is so items passed out by the diver inside the to the surface, Joe Moberly strong that even for a man wreckage. Divers were limited to only (an elder from one of the they have never met, these 25 minutes on their first dive and 16 adjacent villages) spotted game wardens came forward minutes on second dives. something sitting on the to help where and when they On January 30th, divers recovered leading edge of one of the could. multiple items from the airplane in- wings. There, sitting on Raymond flew many mis- cluding; a camera, a wallet, boots, and the leading edge of a wing sions under the Canadian a knife. Finally, the divers arrived at which had been raised from Air Force banner, “Per Ar- the surface, with the remains of CO the bottom, sat Ray Gran’s dua ad Astra,” which means, Thompson and Pilot Gran. The miss- wedding ring. “It was truly “Through adversity, the ing men were back with their families an amazing, almost spiritu- stars.” Megan Gran, Ray- after nearly 60 years! Once the remains al moment as the ring was mond’s great-niece contin- were brought to the surface, the RCMP presented to me. Just when ues this tradition of flight, divers packed their gear and headed for we had given up hope we would never with her interest in Space Engineering home, leaving the plane resting on the find it ... there it was ... sitting on the at York University, and participating bottom of Peter Pond. While the divers edge of the wing, as the wing was pulled in the European Space Agency’s “Fly a had recovered the remains of both men, to the surface.” said Kapusta. The ring Rocket” program. Raymond certainly and numerous physical items, Linda Ka- now rests on a necklace around the neck would have been very proud of his great pusta’s hopes of recovering her father’s of Ray Gran’s daughter Linda Kapusta. niece Megan. wedding ring had not come true. After 60 years of waiting, the Kapusta In most cases, this would have sig- (Gran) and Thompson families finally *Note: A special thanks goes out to naled the end of this story, but not with have resolution of this mystery of what the families of Ray Gran and Harold the Kapusta and Thompson families happened to their loved ones. The re- Thompson. This article was written with involved. Work on the next goal, of mains of both men have been brought the help and input from those family recovering the airplane, began in March home to be laid to rest by their families. members. In particular, Don Kapusta of 2019. With the assistance of the The classic Cessna 180 now rests with and Marlin Thompson were very helpful conservation officers of Northern Sas- the Saskatchewan Aviation Museum in in setting the record straight. Photos katchewan, the Saskatchewan Aviation where work to fully restore were provided by the same family Museum, volunteers from nearby vil- the plane is in progress. members as well as by Isabel Herrod.

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