Port Hardy

At 0708 Pacific daylight time, the Pacific Coastal Airlines G-21A amphibian (registration C-GPCD, serial number B76) operating as a charter flight departed Port Hardy Airport, British Columbia, on a visual flight rules flight to Chamiss Bay, British Columbia. At 0849 and again at 0908, the flight follower attempted to contact the tugboat meeting the aircraft at Chamiss Bay by radiotelephone but was unsuccessful. At 0953, the flight follower reported the aircraft overdue to the Joint Rescue Coordination Centre in Victoria, British Columbia, and an aerial search was initiated. A search and rescue aircraft located the wreckage on a hillside near Alice Lake, approximately 14 nautical miles from its departure point. A post-crash fire had ignited. The emergency locator transmitter had been destroyed in the crash and did not transmit. The accident happened at about 0722. Of the seven occupants, the pilot and four passengers were fatally injured, one passenger suffered serious injuries, while another suffered minor injuries. The two survivors were evacuated from the accident site at approximately 1610.

The aircraft was on its way from Phoenix to Gustavus, AK, to be delivered to its new operator Glacier Bay Airways. On the leg from Port Hardy to Prince Rupert, while cruising at an altitude of 4,000 feet, the engine exploded and oil spread on the windscreen. The crew ditched the aircraft in the Grenville Channel and was quickly rescued. The aircraft sank and was not recovered.

After takeoff from Port Hardy Airport, while climbing to a height of 100 feet, the twin engine aircraft stalled and crashed, bursting into flames. All nine occupants who were returning from a fishing camp were killed.

The single engine airplane was engaged in an ambulance flight, carrying one pilot and one patient on a stretcher. Enroute, weather conditions deteriorated and the pilot encountered low ceiling and fog. He decided to reduce his altitude and attempted to land off Port Hardy. While taxiing in rough water, the nose compartments of the floats filled with water and the aircraft nosed over inverted. The patient drowned before she could be released from the stretcher while the pilot survived.

En route from Comox to Port Hardy, the pilot encountered poor weather conditions with limited visibility due to thick fog. The twin engine airplane struck tree tops and crashed on hilly terrain located in Blinkhorn Point, Victoria Island. Four passengers were killed while five other occupants were injured.

During 1975, '13D was under contract to the US Department of the Interior and based at Anchorage, Alaska. Total flight time was approximately 1475 hours. On Friday, 8 August 197 5, the aircraft was being flown back to the lower 48 States from Anchorage with an eventual destination of Greybull, Wyoming. One engine had been shut down due to its running rough, and we understand that a planned fuel stop at Ketchikan, Alaska, was missed because of bad weather. Shortly after midnight on Saturday, 9 August, after seven hours of flight, BuNo 59876 ran out of fuel, and the engines that were still in operation began to quit! Luckily, they were over the northern tip of Vancouver Island, British Columbia, Canada, and below was the 5000 foot paved runway at Port Hardy. Unbelievably , during final approach with only one engine still running, the pilot considered he was too high to land and attempted to go-around! The aircraft struck the ground during the turn, crashed through the airport perimeter fence, crossed the rock and driftwood strewn beach, and came to rest in the ocean, approximately 100 yards offshore! When the radio operator in the control tower lost contact with the plane, he immediately sounded the alarm in the airport fire station. Since no aircraft, nor fire, could be seen, it was felt the plane must have gone down short of the airport, and a search was started in that area. When the aircraft finally came to a stop, the two-man crew was unsure of where they were and what had happened. Almost immediately, the cockpit started to fill with water, and the men struggled to climb out a roof escape hatch. After standing on top of the aircraft for a short while, they spotted a seat cushion floating by, grabbed it, and swam the hundred or so yards to shore. When they arrived on land, their legs were so cold they could not stand. After a short rest, the crew scrambled in the dark over logs and through bushes, and made it to the airport boundary fence. During this same time period, the fire and rescue crews decided the plane must have gone off the runway and into the ocean, so they returned to the airport to resume their search. As the pilot and copilot approached the fence, they saw an emergency vehicle speed toward them down the runway and then continue on by until it stopped at the hole in the fence where the plane had crashed through on its way to the ocean. A short time later, another truck arrived. They were able to get the attention of the driver by shouting and waving. The flight crew was taken to the fire hall where they were given blankets and hot drinks until an ambulance took them to the hospital for examination. Both the pilot and copilot received only minor injuries during their ordeal. The pilot was fired by H&P, but the copilot remained with the company, only to be killed in the crash of a C119 during 1980. N6813D received substantial damage to its nose gear and underbelly, and the left wing tip and flap were destroyed.
Source: http://pb4y-2.org/pdf/all.pdf

While descending to Port Hardy, a fire erupted in the cabin. The pilot attempted an emergency landing and while there were no injuries, the aircraft was destroyed by fire.

Few minutes after his departure from Port Hardy, the pilot informed ATC that the right engine failed and obtained the permission to return for a safe landing. To avoid any stall, the left engine power was increased to its maximum and the crew continued the descent in marginal weather conditions. The airplane landed at high speed and was unable to stop within the remaining distance, overran and eventually crashed against trees in a swampy area. All 51 occupants were evacuated while the aircraft was written off.

At approximately 1411LT the aircraft departed Port Hardy on a scheduled flight to Vancouver with a crew of three and fifteen passengers on board. Five minutes after takeoff the pilot informed the control tower that he was returning because of elevator control trouble. The aircraft made a long final approach to runway 15 and at 1420LT touched the runway and bounced. At this point, the aircraft was observed to make an exceptionally sharp climb and it appeared that full power was applied. However, at the top of this steep climb, the aircraft stalled and fell to the ground in a nose-down attitude, the right wing striking first, and burst into flames almost instantly. The stewardess and three passengers were the only survivors.

The crew was conducting a training exercise from Victoria-Patricia Bay on behalf of the 32th OTU. On approach to Port Hardy, weather conditions were poor with a low visibility and the pilot was unable to localize the airport. The crew followed a circuit over the region but was eventually forced to attempt an emergency landing due to fuel exhaustion. The aircraft hit tree tops and crashed in a dense wooded area near Port Hardy. Two crew were killed while the third occupant was injured.
Crew (32th OTU):
P/O J. M. Talbot, †
P/O T. S. Wordlow, †
Sgt T. R. Moss.