A passion for flight

A well-liked 31-year-old pilot who died in a helicopter crash near Drayton Valley last week had a passion for flying ever since he was a young child, said the man’s little sister.

“He always loved flying and he always dreamed of doing it,” said 26-year-old Randa Edmond about her older brother Wade Kinch who died inside a Bell 206 Jet Ranger helicopter that crashed last Wednesday.

He was the only one on board the aircraft.

“It was so nice that he actually reached his goal,” said Edmond.

During Kinch’s childhood, Edmond says, the pilot would always get excited about family vacations to the Okanagan Valley where there were helicopter tours.

Kinch, who grew up in the Cremona area and lived in a condo in Cochrane, recently hauled his RV to Whitecourt to work alongside his mentor to fly oil workers to remote job sites near Drayton Valley, said Edmond.

After high school, he spent years training to get his pilot’s licence along with doing odd jobs to fulfill his training, said Edmond.

By doing that, she said Kinch was able to get more endorsements and connections to get more work -- something that’s hard to come by for the average pilot.

Edmond said he was looking forward to working in Drayton Valley “because there is demand there.”

“He would work several days a week and he would always fly back and forth,” said Edmond.

During the Thunder In the Valley Drag Race -- an annual event in Drayton Valley -- during the Labour Day long weekend, Edmond offered helicopter rides to children, said Edmond, as a way of making some quick cash.

Edmond said Kinch had some doubts about those plans because he was worried he would only do five rides during the entire weekend.

“We probably did 10 to 15 rides a day,” said Edmond who added the ride attracted long lineups.

“The kids just loved him and they had so much fun.”

Edmond, who is expecting a child, said Kinch was “looking forward to being an uncle.”

Kinch, who was single and had no kids, leaves behind his parents, along with a younger brother and a young sister.

Funeral services are being planed for Wednesday in Cremona.

Chris Krepski, a spokesman for the Transportation Safety Board, said the helicopter suffered a severe impact and was “quite destroyed.”

Witnesses reported heavy fog in the area when the chopper crashed.

Although the investigation is ongoing, Krepski says investigators believe there was nothing wrong with the aircraft’s engine.

Investigators were going to look at the chopper’s flight instruments for further examination.

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