Updated Mar. 9 at 1:40 p.m.
The search for Nicole and Jody Blais, last seen Mar. 4, has been declared a major search and rescue operation by the Joint Rescue Coordination Centre (JRCC) Trenton and the Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF).
As a major search and rescue operation, more RCAF and Civil Air Search and Rescue Associaion (CASARA) personnel and resources can be dedicated to the search, which is being co-ordinated out of the Timmins Victor M. Power Airport, said Timmin's Bay Today.
The Kapuskasing couple was last seen leaving Sudbury in a grey Robinson R66 helicopter with white and orange trim. The couple's phone reportedly 'pinged' a tower near Timmins around midnight on Mar. 4, indicating the couple may have been or remain in that area.
According to a Facebook post by Gilbert Mondoux, a Kapuskasing man assisting in the search and rescue efforts, the cell phone could be located in a five mile radius of the GPS location N48 40.49 W081 48.75.
OPP asks that people in the Sudbury, Timmins and Kapuskasing area refain from flying drones or unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) while aeriel and ground search efforts are being conducted.
The RCAF aircrafts being used in the search include a CC-130H Hercules and two CH-146 Griffon helicopter from 8 Wing Trenton, a CC-130H Hercules from 17 Wing Winnipeg, and a CH-146 Griffon from 439 Squadron at 3 Wing Bagotville, Que.
A Cessna 337 and Cessna 182 from CASARA and their on-board spotters have also joined the search, along with OPP helicopter and ground search teams, and the Canadian Coast Guard helicopter.
Anyone with information that might prove helpful is asked to contact the OPP at 1-888-310-1122.
Updated Mar. 7 at 11:20 a.m.
New information has been released about a Kapuskasing couple who went missing this week while on a helicopter flight between Sudbury and a hangar in Fauquier, a small community east of Kapuskasing.
Nicole Blais, 47, and her husband Jody Blais, 49, were last seen leaving Sudbury by helicopter on March 4 at about 6:45 p.m., the OPP reports in a news release. They haven't been seen since.
The OPP has engaged the Joint Rescue Coordination Centre to help with the search. Members of the James Bay OPP detachments and the OPP Emergency Response Team are assisting.
Anyone with information that might prove helpful is asked to contact the OPP at 1-888-310-1122.
Original story
A Kapuskasing couple has gone missing on a helicopter somewhere between Timmins and Kapuskasing.
Jody and Nicole Blais operate a company that gives helicopter tours called Helico Blais. Police have not issued a release on the situation yet, but posts shared to Facebook by friends and family members say the couple were flying between Sudbury and Timmins on Monday. They haven't been seen since March 4.
Search and rescue have been flying over the area in hopes of spotting the craft.
It is unknown if the helicopter crashed or had to make an emergency landing.
According to a Facebook post by Gilbert Mondoux, a Kapuskasing man who is helping co-ordinate search and rescue efforts alongside the family, it is suspected the couple made a soft landing, not a crash landing, in a remote location and just need to be found.
In posts on Jody Blais' Facebook page, it is clear he is the pilot of the couple's helicopter while his wife serves as his flight assistant.
This story will be updated as more information becomes available.
