Marking 20 years since Georgian Express flight 126 went down near Pelee Island

It’s been 20 years since Georgian Express flight 126 went down near Pelee Island.

In Kingsville there’s a hunting cabin filled with artifacts, remembering the eight friends whose annual hunting trip came to a tragic end.

“We lost those souls and the sanctuary built this back in 2004, complete with a doghouse outside,” said Jack Miner Migratory Bird Foundation Executive Director Tom Coke.

What should’ve been a quick flight from pheasant hunting on Pelee Island to the Windsor airport ended with eight men, the pilot and his fiancée, as well as two dogs, not making it home.

“I heard a plane, which I don’t usually make note, but I did on this occasion because it sounded like it was having some troubles. Not like it was sputtering, but it sounded like it was having some troubles. And then I heard a bang like a crash, and also like a crunching sound, like stepping into a frozen puddle,” said Pelee Island resident Dave Bracken.

The crash prompted a recovery mission led by the Canadian Coast Guard ship ... Samuel Risley and the ensuing Transportation Safety Board of Canada investigation found the flight was more than 1,000 lbs overweight, contaminated with ice and the pilot was stressed and tired.

In 2019 a jury awarded family members of the victims $345,000 in punitive and aggravated damages in a civil suit — the families had been seeking $5.8 million in damages.

The jury found the pilot, Wayne price, guilty of making bad decisions leading up to the crash and imposed a $300,000 levy against his estate.

Georgian Express and the Owen Sound Transportation Company which operated the service, were not hit with a financial penalty.

Outside that cabin in Kingsville on the grounds of the Jack Miner Museum, there are eight maple trees, now 20 years old. There’s also one for the pilot and a serviceberry tree for his fiancé.

“Being in a cabin like this, stepping foot in it, it really gives you the ability to really understand just how fragile life is and to really take every day and live in each moment because we never know what will happen,” said Coke.