COURTENAY, B.C. A Port McNeill man is on a mission to try to help solve a decades-old mystery that dates back to when a helicopter went missing off the north end of Vancouver Island. Teddy Masales was the pilot and lone occupant of a Robertson R-22 that disappeared on the evening of Sept. 25, 1997, after being turned away from the Port Hardy airport. The chopper was denied landing at the airport because a scheduled flight was coming in from Vancouver and it was believed that Masales flew a short distance away to wait for clearance, but then disappeared. No trace of the pilot nor the helicopter was ever found, despite extensive searches at the time.