Contact has been made with several sources in relation to a reported early Friday morning incident at West Kootenay Regional Airport. By Saturday morning three sources had responded in regard to the Castlegar stopover of a Canadian Forces helicopter and crew.
The search and rescue personnel, en route to provide assistance in flood-ravaged Southern Alberta had apparently been unsuccessful in its attempts to procure a taxi for the trip from the airport across the river into Castlegar proper. They ended up calling police.
“A squadron destined for Alberta was forced to land at Castlegar airport and they called our office at around 12:30 a.m. and advised that the taxis were closed and they needed a ride to a local hotel,” informed RCMP Cst. Debbie Postnikoff on June 22. “We were able to assist in providing the group a ride.”
The helicopter took off from Castlegar at about noon Friday.
John Foglia, proprietor of Castlegar Taxi said it was business as usual at the time the call attempts were said to have been made, with two cars at the ready.
“Monday to Friday there’s two taxis all day long,” said Foglia on Saturday morning. “I don’t know what the problem would have been, whether it was a wrong number or whatever.”
A response from Canadian Forces over the brief time spent in Castlegar was not critical in any way.
“The detachment commander for the Cormorants has asked his entire team, air and ground crew, and no one indicated having had issues,” stated Major Iabelle Robitaille in an email.
