The CAO in Merritt says a crash at the local airport spurs the need for improvements to the city-owned facility.

Scott Hildebrand says the city is in the middle of planning to upgrade the Merritt Airport.

It spent $25,000 last year to create an airport master plan which is still being formed by a committee that includes members of council.

“That process is just kind of up and running now as part of our strategic plan, it’s something that we want to really get ahead of right now. And timing is just very unfortunate. Right now we don’t have any night time flights, of course because we don’t have any of the services needed for safety. But it’s something we’re certainly looking at for the future as we continue to grow the airport,” Hildebrand says.

“That may include lighting, that may including resurfacing some of the aprons on the runway as well, other fixed fencing and that sort of thing.”

Yesterday, at 12: 15 a.m., a man was rescued from the a single-seater plane that had crashed on the runway in Merritt. He was taken to hospital with serious injuries.

It’s believed the man involved – who is in his 60s and has just moved to Merritt from out-of-province – had crashed his plane sometime around dusk on Sunday, and he was found after police went to the airport when he was reported missing.