Edmonton

While descending to Slave Lake, the crew failed to realize his altitude was too low when the airplane crashed in a wooded area located 16 km from the airfield. All nine passengers were seriously injured while both pilots were killed.
Photos: http://archaeologyblog.treetimeservices.ca/2016/11/02/photo-of-the-week-6/

Lockheed L-188 Aircraft CF-PAB operated as Panarctic flight 416 and departed Calgary International Airport at 18:05 hours 29 October 1974. The aircraft was on a routine positioning flight to Edmonton with a pilot-in-command, co-pilot and flight engineer on board. The 30-minute flight was uneventful with no unserviceabilities reported by the crew. The aircraft was prepared for the continuing flight north with the loading of 20000 lb of baggage and freight and 21000 lb of jet B fuel. The aircraft pilot-in-command and flight engineer were replaced by those scheduled for the Edmonton to Rea Point leg. The pilot-in-command received a weather briefing; an IFR flight plan was filed at an initial cruising altitude of 18000 ft with Pedder Point as the alternate. The estimated time en-route was 4 hours 12 minutes. After loading 30 passengers and a fourth crew man, the loadmaster/flight attendant, the aircraft departed the Edmonton International Airport at 20:04 hours. The flight proceeded uneventfully, cruising at 18 000ft to Fort Smith where it was cleared to flight level 210. The aircraft reported over Byron Bay at 23:04 hours with an estimated time of arrival at Rea Point of 00:16. About 100 miles north of Byron Bay the aircraft was cleared to flight level 250. Radio contact was established with Rea Point about 150 miles out and a descent was started for a straight-in VOR/DME approach to runway 33. The descent was smooth except for some turbulence at 4000 ft. The aircraft levelled at 17 miles DME from Rea Point at 2000 ft for a period of 1 minute 45 seconds. The aircraft then slowly descended to about 875 ft ASL at 6 miles DME. A call was made to Rea Point advising them of the DME range on final. There was light turbulence. Fifteen hundred horsepower was selected on the engines; both the VHF navigation radios were selected to the Rea Point VOR frequency and both ADF's were selected to the Rea Point OX nondirectional beacon. Both cockpit barometric altimeters were set to 29.91 in of mercury, the latest Rea Point setting. The airspeed was indicating 150 kt which, with a 30 kt headwind component, resulted in a ground speed of 120 kt. The pre-landing check had been completed, 100 per cent flap selected and the landing gear was down. The landing lights were extended but were off, the wing leading edge lights as well as the alternate taxi lights were on. Glare had been experienced from external lights early in the descent from 10000 ft, but not thereafter. There was no pre-landing briefing conducted by the pilot-in-command. The flight engineer was able to see what appeared to be open water below with ice. The co-pilot set his radio altimeter warning to 450 ft and the pilot-in-command set his to 300 ft. When the warning light came on the co-pilot's radio altimeter, he advised the pilot-in-command. As the descent continued through the minimum descent altitude of 450 ft, the co-pilot reset his radio altimeter to 300 ft and so advised the pilot-in-command. The aircraft was still in a shallow descent. At 300 ft radio altitude the co-pilot checked the DME reading as 3 miles, saw a dark area of open water and an ice line and reported to the pilot-in-command that they seemed to be approaching an ice ridge and that they had visual contact. The pilot-in-command reset his radio altimeter to about 150 ft. Also, close to this time the pilot-in-command said he believed they were on top of a layer of cloud, repeated the statement, following which he retarded the throttles and pushed forward on the control column with sufficient force to produce perceptible negative G. The rate of descent increased rapidly to between 1700 and 2000 ft a minute. The co-pilot shouted at the pilot-in-command reporting their descent through 200 ft at 2 miles DME but there was no response. The flight engineer and the co-pilot both called through 50 ft without an observed reaction from the pilot-in-command. The co-pilot reached for the right side power levers and found the flight engineer's hands already on them. On impact, the cockpit area broke away from the remainder of the fuselage and with the cargo continued along the ice surface for 900 ft. After the cockpit came to rest, the flight engineer undid his seat belt and saw both the pilot-in-command and co-pilot in their seats. The co-pilot although injured was able to undo his seat belt and the flight engineer pulled him on to the ice before the cockpit section sank completely.

The airplane was engaged in a cargo flight from Toronto to Seoul with intermediate stops in Edmonton and Vancouver, carrying two passengers, three crew members and a load of 86 Holsteins cows. Following an uneventful flight, the crew was cleared for an ILS approach to runway 29. At this time, weather conditions were considered as poor with limited visibility due to the night, snow falls and turbulences as a cold front was approaching the area. The copilot was in command and due to various factors, he failed to realize that the sink rate was too high on short final when the captain decided to regain control. Then the airplane struck poplar trees located 3,137 meters short of runway and electric cables, stalled and crashed in flames in a gravel pit located less than three km from the airfield. The aircraft was destroyed and all five occupants and 86 cows were killed.

The twin engine airplane departed Edmonton, carrying engineers and employees from the Western Construction & Lumber Company en route to Chetwynd on a mining prospective program. En route, the pilot encountered marginal weather conditions and informed ATC about his position vertical to Dawson Creek, this was the last radio contact. While approaching Chetwynd in poor weather conditions, the aircraft struck the slope of Mt Wartenbe located 14 km southeast of the airport. Due to the ELT transmitter, the wreckage was quickly localized but unfortunately, all six occupants have been killed. At the time of the accident, the mountain was shrouded in clouds and the visibility was poor due to heavy rain falls.

On October 17, 1958 a Beaver belonging to the USAF took off from Grande Prairie, Alberta en route to Edmonton, AB., for a routine maintenance inspection. On board were Capt. William Varns, Capt. Walter Brown, Lt. Lawrence Anderson and Sgt. Jackie Herth from the 919th Squadron, Saskatoon Mountain Air Squadron, Beaverlodge, AB. Two hunters were reported missing in the area of Nose Mountain, south of Grande Prairie, and the flight was side-tracked to search for them. The hunters were spotted and the crew radioed that they were going down closer to enable them to drop a note to the hunters. That was the last word from them. A civilian plane with an USAF Sgt. aboard was dispatched from the Grande Prairie airport to search for the missing aircraft. They located it, but had no radio so had to return to Grande Prairie to report. Meanwhile a RCAF Search and Rescue aircraft from Namao, Alberta was dispatched. When they located the crash site, they radioed in the location and continued to circle until a RCAF helicopter from Dawson Creek, British Columbia, reached the site. The helicopter picked up the injured airmen and radioed back that “One of the chaps didn’t make it.” The injured were airlifted to Grande Prairie, AB., and transported by ambulance to the hospital in Beaverlodge. The hunters stayed at the crash site overnight and were airlifted out early the next day when the helicopter returned to fetch the body of Capt. William Varns. The two hunters were praised for their help in assisting the injured airmen. Airframe buried at crash site.
Source & photos: http://www.dhc-2.com/cn425.html

The aircraft departed Edmonton at 1137LT on a flight to Port Radium, NWT, with refuelling stops at Fort Smith and Yellowknife, NWT. The aircraft climbed to 9,000 feet on a direct route to Fort Smith. Between Edmonton and Fort McMurray, it encountered light rime ice which was easily disposed of by the deicing equipment. At approximately 1320LT, the aircraft was abeam Fort McMurray and encountered freezing rain about five minutes later. The course was altered for Embarras with the intention of joining the airway and following it as far as Fort Smith. The build-up of ice was very rapid at this time and could not be overcome by the deicing equipment. The crew requested permission to descend to 7,000 feet and during the descent additional ice was picked up. The aircraft could not maintain height at 7,000 feet and went down to 5,000 feet, still running through rain squalls. Throttle and propeller settings were for 40" and 2 500 rpm respectively. Further altitude was lost and at about 4,500 feet, severe turbulence was encountered. This together with the accumulation of ice, caused a further loss of height, and the aircraft collided with trees. The pilot closed the throttles and at 1352LT and carried out a forced landing. Both pilots suffered serious injuries and the aircraft was destroyed.

At 0021LT the aircraft departed Edmonton for Yellowknife with a crew of two, four passengers and a cargo of freight. An IFR flight plan had been filed for the flight to be made at 5,000 feet over Blue Air Route No. 84. Clearance out of the Edmonton Control Area was given to the aircraft but VFR was to be maintained while in the area. About twenty-two minutes after take-off, the tower at Namao heard a distress message from the aircraft indicating that the starboard engine had failed and that the aircraft was returning to Edmonton at 3,000 feet. Two minutes later another distress message was picked up by Namao stating that the aircraft was returning to Edmonton. Two-way communication with the aircraft was not established and although Namao and Edmonton continued to call the aircraft for more than thirty minutes, nothing further was heard from it. Although hampered by darkness and poor weather conditions, an air and ground search was started almost immediately but without success, until shortly after first light when the wreckage was found in a farm field about ten miles north of Thorhild. The captain and one passenger had been killed and the copilot and three other passengers were seriously injured. The aircraft was destroyed.

Shortly after takeoff from runway 33 at Edmonton Airport, the airplane encountered difficulties to gain height, hit an obstacle and crashed in flames on a railway. The aircraft was destroyed by impact forces and a post crash fire and both crew members were killed.

The four engine aircraft was performing a flight from Vancouver to Montreal with an intermediate stop in Edmonton on behalf of the 426th Transport Squadron. On the leg from Vancouver to Edmonton, the crew encountered icing conditions when an engine failed. The captain decided to return to Vancouver for a safe landing when on approach, he encountered poor weather with rains falls and icing conditions. On final, the aircraft banked left and right, causing the right wing to hit the runway surface. On impact, the right wing was sheared off and the aircraft went out of control and came upside down. It then slid for dozen yards before coming to rest at the edge of a ditch. All 51 occupants were miraculously evacuated safely while the aircraft was destroyed.

While cruising at an altitude of 9,000 feet on a flight from Edmonton to Denver, the crew encountered technical problems with the left engine. A propeller blade detached and hit the fuselage. Shortly later, the engine suffered severe vibrations and later detached from its mount. In such conditions, the crew decided to reduce his altitude and attempted an emergency landing. The aircraft crash landed in a field located 12 miles east of Billings, hit a ditch and came to rest in flames. Eight occupants were killed while eight others were injured.