The sudden grating of a chainsaw ripped through the silence on top of a frozen lake in Northern Saskatchewan. A team of RCMP divers were cutting through the ice in order to recover a plane that had crash-landed on the spot 60 years ago.

Former Steinbach resident Greg Fast was one member of the diving team who explored the wreckage last week. He explains that, back in 1959, two men left a nearby town called Buffalo Narrows in a plane that never arrived at its destination.

RCMP cut an entry hole in the ice with a chainsaw (Photo credit: Saskatchewan RCMP)

For 59 years the whereabouts of the crash site remained a mystery. However, this ended last summer after sonar operators hired by the victim’s families found the aircraft in Peter Pond Lake located in northern Saskatchewan. These coordinates were then shared with local RCMP who compiled a team from both Saskatchewan and Manitoba to investigate.

Fast says he took part in this police investigation last August and says they too found the plane, but at the time were unable to enter the waters.

“We were facing some pretty high winds and waves and we couldn’t safely dive,” notes Fast. “So we decided to return in winter where we would have a stable platform on the ice and dive in at that point.”

A platform was set up on the ice where diving preparations could take place. (Photo credit: Greg Fast)

At the beginning of last week, RCMP crews approached the site for the second time. On this occasion, they were able to take the plunge.

Over the course of a few 14-hour work days, Fast and his fellow divers set up a small base and made many trips between the wreckage and the surface.

First, Fast explains, divers went down to tether a rope between the plane and the surface in order to guide the day's expeditions. Second, RCMP went down to take video footage of the site. Finally, numerous trips were made to collect anything that could be found within the derelict plane. This is where Fast came in.

“My task was to go into the cockpit and see what I could feel.”

Most of the crew's supplies was stored inside a tent on the lake. (Photo credit: Greg Fast)

As Fast sunk beneath the frozen ice, his only source of light was a handheld flashlight and the ice hole sixty feet above him. Amid the swirling silt and dark waters, his visibility was poor.

“It was a lot different than I expected,” comments Fast. “We could tell from the sonar that the plane was flipped upside down, but when we went down to look at it there was a lot of debris and sediment that had settled over the years.”

When Fast reached the downed plane he found the doors already broken open which made it easier to search. Still, Fast says he was almost blind as he rummaged around the pilot’s seat for any object that could be brought to the surface. Among other items, Fast quickly stumbled upon what he recognized as parts of a human skeleton, though the icy waters had changed the bones over time.

“We’re used bones being white, but these bones were black," tells Fast, "so I wasn’t really sure what I was grabbing right away, but then I could begin to feel that they were femur bones, or vertebrae.”

Different diving pairs conducted similar searches on the other doorways to the plane and anything found was brought up top and turned over to the coroner who was on scene.

This bombardier was used to bring supplies on and off the lake. (Photo credit: Greg Fast)

Reflecting on his experience, Fast calls the event “uniquely historical”, and “logistically challenging”. He says it was difficult getting up North where there were very few amenities, but the fact that he could essentially be a part of this larger story was special in a way.

“In the end, we’re happy that we could help the families out and put this 60-year-old mystery to rest for them.”