Two pilots who were on the way to Alberta quickly were caught in a thunderstorm Friday, which almost left them stranded in a remote B.C. community, were saved by a couple and have now created an unlikely friendship.
Solomon Andruschak and Mustafa Shaikh, two pilots from Victoria, were travelling Friday to Grande Prairie. Solomon was planning on visiting his mother and sister. Shaikh was heading to a friend’s wedding.
The two originally planned to fly over Hope and travel above the Fraser River, landing in Williams Lake. There the two would refuel, then fly straight to Grande Prairie.
But on Friday, a thunderstorm was hitting the Cariboo region.
“We called Williams Lake and asked for the details of the weather over the airport and they said ‘well, there’s lightning strikes literally over the airport,'” said Solomon.
The pair said they had no cell service which worried Solomon’s father, Barry.
“The first thing that was going through my head was ‘I hope they didn’t crash anywhere,'” said Barry.
The pair of pilots quickly found a small airstrip, in the small community of Likely, B.C., and began their descent.
“I had no idea that this town existed in B.C.,” said Shaikh.
Likely, B.C., which is located about 100 km northeast of Williams Lake has a population of only a few hundred people. Offering a few amenities like a cafe, general store, a library with high speed internet. The town’s airstrip isn’t paved—only covered by just a field of grass.
The pair had a rocky landing. With no one around to help them, the two locked up their plane, and began a 45 minute walk into town in the rain.
“We stopped and we thought ‘Okay, this is just too far away we should just go try a camp,'” said Solomon.
The two were planning on sleeping in an abandoned shed, until Dave Jourdain drove by.
“These two fellas were walking along here and I thought—well, heck, it’s pouring down rain here, so I just asked them if they wanted a ride,” said Dave in a phone call interview with CHEK News.
The two stranded pilots soon found shelter with Dave and his wife Bev, offering the pair a place to sleep and eat for the night. That night, the four shared a dinner together and drinks. The couple, who has lived in Likely for four years, offered to drive the pilots to the Williams Lake airport in the morning.
“We’re just happy to be alive,” said Shaikh.
The Jourdain’s say they fed the pair a plate of spicy spaghetti meatballs—a dish that Bev said she coincidently made extra servings of, earlier that day. Adding that they were happy to pay it forward.
“Couple of years ago, my youngest son who was in the military and across the country, couldn’t get home for Christmas,” said Bev. “A couple at the barracks who were civilians, invited him in the house and took care of him.”
The two pilots told CHEK News that they were able to leave Williams Lake early Saturday morning, with an expected arrival time in Grande Prairie for later in the afternoon.
The two friends say that if the airstrip is improved, they’ll make a trip back to the small community and give flowers to the couple who helped them.
“People like Dave and Bev are what puts faith in humanity,” said Solomon.
Oli Herrera
