Monday is the fourth day of searching for and rescuing two missing men.
John Fer and Brian Slingerland disappeared for the first time on Thursday night after their plane disappeared in Wawa, Ont. area near Sault Ste. Marie, Ont.
The two took off on a plane purchased from Slingerland, from the city of Delhi in southern Ontario.
Mary Reimer, Fer’s sister, said the couple’s goal was a Marathon, Ontario, which would serve as a stop on their way back to Alberta. Fer was to be the co-pilot of the plane.
Reimer said her brother had recently won his pilot’s license. She said he always liked the idea of flying.
Heavy snowfall of up to five feet in some parts has hampered air search. Major Trevor Reed, Joint Rescue Coordination Center
“The stomach is knotted. Everyone, including me, is just looking forward to it, but they’re afraid of what we might get, you know, when the news comes,” Reimer said.
“I’m just waiting. I’m just waiting and I don’t know. The hardest thing right now is waiting and not knowing.”
Reimer said that when she spoke to Fer’s wife Lisa earlier today, she said the family was “hanging on to hope”. The couple, Reimer said, share six children.
Major Trevor Reed is a senior public relations officer at the Trenton Joint Rescue Coordination Center.
Reed said about 85 people are part of the ground and air search and rescue operation through the Joint Rescue Coordination Center, the Royal Canadian Air Force, OPP, the Canadian Coast Guard and the Civil Air Search and Rescue Association (CASARA). But the weather conditions in the last few days have not been favorable.
“Heavy snowfall of up to five feet in some parts has made it difficult to find air,” Reed said.
“Furthermore, the terrain in this common area is quite rough and a challenge for some of our ground search and rescue partners.
Reed added that rescue teams were looking for an ELT signal from the plane, but so far have failed.
Although the weather is difficult, Reed said it has improved and hopes it will continue as crews continue their search.
“We can’t do much”
From her knowledge, Reimer said her brother was unfamiliar with northern Ontario: “I think he knew it was quite a desert.”
She said that so far the moral and financial support has been incredible from both community members and strangers across the country.
She said five of her other brothers were preparing to join the search if it continued.
“It makes us feel like we’re at least doing something,” she said. “It’s good to have people there and want to help, especially my own family,” she said.
“We can’t do much here. We pray. We pray a lot. ”
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