ManitobaA First Nation community in northern Manitoba is mourning the loss of four members who died in a float plane crash on Saturday.2 couples were going to their traditional hunting grounds when crash happened: chiefDave Baxter · CBC News · Posted: Sep 15, 2025 10:38 PM EDT | Last Updated: September 16Rena and Bradley Monias died when a float plane they were travelling on on Saturday crashed near Makepeace Lake. (Judy Klassen/Facebook)A First Nation community in northern Manitoba is mourning the loss of four members who died in a float plane crash on Saturday.On Monday, St. Theresa Point First Nation Chief Raymond Flett confirmed that two couples — Rena and Bradley Monias, along with Ella and Nestor Monias — died in the Saturday crash.A pilot who was flying the plane survived with serious but non-life-threatening injuries.Flett said the two couples were going on a weekend trip to their traditional hunting grounds in a float plane, but never made it to their destination.Police, military search-and-rescue personnel and a chartered helicopter responded to the area of Makepeace Lake, where the crash was reported around 6:45 p.m. on Saturday, Manitoba RCMP have said in a news release.Police said that four people — all passengers — were pronounced dead at the scene. Those killed were a 49-year-old man, two 50-year-old women, and a 53-year-old man. Ella and Nestor Monias died when a float plane they were travelling on on Saturday crashed near Makepeace Lake. (Judy Klassen/Facebook)All four were from St. Theresa Point First Nation and were heading to Makepeace Lake, police said. The lake is around 425 kilometres northeast of Winnipeg, near the Manitoba-Ontario border. The float plane was supposed to land on the water, but crashed on land just north of the lake, police have said.Flett called the incident “devastating” for the northern Manitoba community located more than 500 kilometres north of Winnipeg. “We’re still in shock, a lot of us,” Flett said in an interview. “It’s devastating, it’s a painful situation.”‘Quite a difficult few days’Anisininew Okimawin Grand Chief Alex McDougall told CBC News his niece, Ella, was one of the four who died in Saturday’s crash.”We’re all in shock and mourning at the sudden loss of our loved ones,” McDougall said Monday. “So it’s been quite a difficult few days trying to find out what happened exactly, and we’re still waiting to hear.”It’s very difficult. It’s very difficult here trying to process.”McDougall said he finds some solace in the fact that his niece and the three others were on their way to do something that’s made them happy.”That was to be out on the land, be out with God’s creation, be out there with the animals and the sustenance it provides our families,” he said. The Transportation Safety Board of Canada has confirmed it is investigating the crash, which involved a de Havilland Canada DHC-2 Beaver float plane. The plane that crashed on Saturday had left St. Theresa Point First Nation and was on the way to Makepeace Lake in northern Manitoba. (CBC Graphics)Police are also still investigating, according to an RCMP media release. McDougall said they will now wait for details from those investigations. He said he and other community members are finding “some kind of resolve and comfort in knowing that there are people out there that are doing their best to try and get some answers for us.”CBC News confirmed the float plane belonged to Alair air taxi service operating out of St. Theresa Point First Nation, but a company spokesperson declined to comment further.Assembly of Manitoba Chiefs Grand Chief Kyra Wilson also expressed condolences to the community, and to the families of those who died in the crash, and said incidents like the one on Saturday have an effect on all First Nations people in Manitoba.”It’s always said when we hear of a loss in one of our communities, it is definitely felt throughout our communities,” Wilson said Monday. “As all First Nations, when we hear of a loss, that impacts everybody.”Wilson also pledged that the Assembly of Manitoba Chiefs will work to support the community in whatever ways they need.”We’re always here as a support in whatever capacity that leadership is needing, whatever community is needing,” she said. “I’m always taking that direction from our leadership, and so we’ll be here every step of the way, and whatever the needs are from the leadership in the community.”St. Theresa Point mourns community members killed in plane crashFour people from St. Theresa Point First Nation are dead after a float plane crashed about 40 kilometres south of the northeastern Manitoba community on Saturday evening. Police, military search-and-rescue personnel and a chartered helicopter responded to the area of Makepeace Lake, where the crash was reported. ABOUT THE AUTHORDave Baxter is an award-winning reporter and editor currently working for CBC Manitoba. Born and raised in Winnipeg, he has also previously reported for the Winnipeg Sun and the Winnipeg Free Press, as well as several rural Manitoba publications.With files from Gavin Axelrod
‘It’s devastating,’ says St. Theresa Point chief as Manitoba First Nation mourns float plane crash deaths
