Saskatchewan pilot named among six lost on Hamilton air ambulance

TORONTO — One of the four Canadians presumed dead on the Hamilton air ambulance that vanished off Nantucket was a graduate of a Prairie College flight school whose pilots have been going on to fly for the company.Thomas (Tommy) Henry Farquhar was the first officer on Latitude Air Ambulance’s Gulfstream, call sign Heartbeat 104, which left Bermuda for Boston early on Oct. 3 with a patient, her son and four Canadian crew. The U.S. Coast Guard suspended the search Sunday after debris from the jet was found about 20 miles off Nantucket. Latitude has said all six are presumed dead.Prairie College, in Three Hills, Alta., said in an Thursday release that Farquhar was a 2023 graduate of the Prairie Aviation Training Centre, its flight school, run with and under Mission Aviation Fellowship Canada. President Mark L. Maxwell said learning of the death had left a hole in many hearts, and that the college was mourning with Farquhar’s wife, Kayla. “We mourn with Peter Byl and the team at Latitude Air Ambulance, which includes many of our PATC grads, who lost four highly valued teammates (two aviation and two medical) in addition to the two passengers,” he said. “Latitude Air has been a good friend to PATC and has become a favourite destination among our aviation graduates.”.Coast Guard ends search for missing Hamilton air ambulance.The college remembered Farquhar as a bright presence who played in chapel services. Greg Ottenbreit, the former Saskatchewan cabinet minister, posted the college portrait on Friday and wrote that Farquhar was “a Saskatchewan born and trained pilot” who lost his life serving others. The U.S. Coast Guard named the crew as captain Philip Gregory Childerhose, Thomas Farquhar, flight nurse Sarah Jane Paton and respiratory therapist Jolene Beth Weir. Bermuda police named the passengers as Marilyn Lavonne Bean, 66, and her son, Sergio Wayne Lottimore, 41. Latitude president Peter Byl called Farquhar a gentle giant, loved by everyone who met him.The Farquhar family has set up the Tommy Farquhar Aviation Scholarship Fund at Prairie College for pilots who want to use the skill to serve others.The Transportation Safety Board of Canada is leading the investigation, because the jet was on the Canadian registry. The U.S. National Transportation Safety Board is assisting. No wreckage recovery has been announced.

Saskatchewan pilot named among six lost on Hamilton air ambulance

Related Stories

Coast Guard ends search for missing Hamilton air ambulance

Air passenger advocates urge Senate to reject private complaint arbitration

Federal airport security agency plans passenger biometric screening by 2031

OLDCORN: Hamilton’s crackdown on Dominion Society conference failed — and that’s good for Canadian democracy