A family with deep roots in, and a deep love for, the Yukon is grieving the loss of two of its members, after a father and son were killed in a plane crash Thursday morning.

Saskatchewan RCMP confirm Chuck Buchanan, 63, and his son Shane, 40, were killed when their float plane crashed a short distance away from the Cameron McIntosh Airport in North Battleford, Sask.

According to police, the PA-14 float plane left a waterway near the airport at around 10:20 a.m. local time.

It was in the air a short time, then crashed to the ground and burst into flames.  

North Battleford fire, ambulance and RCMP were swiftly in attendance but the pair was pronounced dead.

Two investigators with the Transportation Safety Board of Canada arrived on the scene from Winnipeg this afternoon.

Spokesperson John Cottreau said the plane was on its way from Saskatchewan to Calling Lake, Alta. and eventually on to Whitehorse

Cameron McIntosh Airport, about 2.8 kilometres east of North Battleford, is owned by the city. It is currently closed while the investigation continues.

Shane Buchanan was the co-owner and operator of Moon Lake Outfitters Ltd. The outfitter was located in northern B.C. west of Atlin Lake and east of Primrose River.

Shane grew up within a few miles of the outfitting concession in Carcross and guided all over the Yukon, Northwest Territories and northern B.C.

The company's website described Shane as an avid hunter who spent his early years on a trapline and went on his first sheep hunt at age five.

"It is a major loss to the community of outfitters and the community of the Yukon as a whole,” Doug Burgis, executive director of the Yukon Outfitters Association, told the Star.

The news spread quickly Thursday among the close-knit community of outfitters.

"They were a family that were true ambassadors for the Yukon,” said Teena Dickson, a long-time friend and fellow outfitter.

Dickson describes the pair as "Jack of all trades who always made time for their friends.

"Every person who has a long history in the Yukon has had an interaction with the Buchanans,” she said.

Chuck Buchanan was known in the territory as a talented taxidermist, a craft he passed on to his son.

He was also an accomplished artist with carvings that are part of the Yukon government's Permanent Art Collection.

The elder Buchanan founded the Yukon Museum of Natural History in Carcross, better known as the Caribou Crossing Trading Post.

Taking on projects like that was not uncommon for the Buchanans, Dickson said.

"They never believed there was a wall in front of them,” she said. "They were big thinkers who made things happen.”

The museum's current owner, Greg McHale, who purchased the business from the Buchanans last year, credits Chuck and his wife, Marilyn, with single-handedly creating the tourism industry in the southern lake region.

The property, which was purchased about 25 years ago, started out as a place for the taxidermy business. It grew from there into a museum and a lunch destination for tourists.

"They were the reason that Holland America or Princess tours even considered coming here,” McHale said.

In the early years, the site could welcome one bus of about 30 tourists. Now, on a good day, there can be 1,000, McHale said.

"Only people like Chuck and Marilyn and Shane and (his wife) Hanna could have the foresight to see what the potential was here, and look at what they created.”

The business is where Shane and Hanna met, McHale said. They have two young sons.

The museum houses taxidermy work from both father and son, a talent that McHale calls "world class.”

Just last week Shane dropped off "the most spectacular mountain goat,” McHale said.

Chuck Buchanan made the news in 2006 when he created a life-sized mammoth which is on display at the museum.

The project involved 32 muskox capes imported from the Northwest Territories and a trip to Russia to take measurements from a skeleton.

"The energy of the Buchanans, the average person can't image,” McHale said.

Family always was the focus of both men, he said.

"Family was number one, the love of the Yukon came second and the love of the outdoors was probably third. They were as Yukoner as you can be.”