Toronto

The Nimrod display aircraft and crew had deployed to Canada on 23 August 1995 for displays at Canadian Forces Base Shearwater and the Canadian International Air Show (CIAS) at Toronto. In excellent weather, with a light on-shore wind, the aircraft took off on time for its display. Upon completion of the safety checks, it ran in for the standard Nimrod display sequence which features two orbits and two dumb-bell turns. The latter manoeuvres each involved a turn away from the display line, a climb to not above 1,000 feet, followed by a turn in the opposite direction and descent, to fly back parallel with the display line. Having completed the two orbits, the first dumb-bell turn was completed uneventfully. After a slow flypast with undercarriage down, the aircraft entered its final manoeuvre, the second dumb-bell turn. It was seen to turn away approximately 75° to starboard under full power before the flaps were retracted to 20° and the undercarriage raised. The nose was then pitched up into a climbing attitude of 24°. As the aircraft passed 950 feet, engine power was reduced to almost flight idle, following which the speed reduced rapidly to 122 knots, below the 150 knots recommended and taught for that stage of the display. The aircraft was rolled to 70° of port bank, shortly afterwards reducing to 45°, and the nose lowered to 5° below the horizon. During this turn the airspeed increased slightly and the G-loading increased to 1 .6 G. However, the combination of the low airspeed and the G-loading led the aircraft to stall, whereupon the port wing dropped to 85° of bank and the nose dropped to 18° below the horizon. Full starboard aileron and full engine power were applied in an attempt to recover the aircraft but, by this stage, there was insufficient height to recover and the aircraft hit the water. All seven crew members were killed.

The crew departed Toronto-Lester Bowles Pearson Airport on a short night cargo flight to Hamilton. While descending in good weather conditions, the airplane went out of control and crashed into Lake Ontario, few km off Hamilton. Both pilots were killed.

The crew departed Toronto-Lester Bowles Pearson Airport at 1107LT on a training flight to Muskoka Airport. En route, while cruising at an altitude of 9,500 feet, the crew was cleared to make a low pass over Orillia Airport. Following a passage at an altitude of about 150-200 feet and a speed of 200 knots, the crew initiated a climb when, at an altitude of 1,000 feet, the aircraft banked right then got inverted and crashed in a near vertical attitude. The aircraft was destroyed and both pilots were killed.

About 1840 e.s.t., on February 11, 1981, a Lockheed JetStar L-1329-731, N520S, crashed during an instrument landing system approach to runway 16 at the Westchester County Airport, White Plains, New York. The area weather was dominated by low obscured ceilings, rain, fog, and reduced visibility. Winds were strong and gusty with moderate to severe turbulence in the lower levels. Following a recent modification of the generator control. circuitry, the aircraft's electrical system had experienced several multiple generator failures.

On approach to Hewanorra Airport on a charter flight from Toronto, the crew encountered windshear conditions. The airplane remained stable and while passing over the runway threshold, the copilot retarded the throttles when, at a height of six meters, the airplane stalled and struck the runway surface. The nose gear was torn off and the airplane slid for about 700 meters before coming to rest. All 171 occupants escaped uninjured while the aircraft was damaged beyond repair.

While taking off from a snow covered runway, the airplane became unstable and directional control was lost. The pilot reduced the power on the right engine to compensate but this was insufficient. The airplane overran and came to rest in a snow covered area. All four passengers were injured and the pilot was seriously wounded. The aircraft was written off.

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.

Flight number 621 of Air Canada DC-8-63 CF-TIW with 100 passengers, six cabin air crew and three flight crew aboard on July 5, 1970 from departure at Montreal International Airport until its final crash at Toronto International Airport lasted slightly more than 52 minutes. This aircraft took off at Montreal at 07 hours and 17 minutes EDT, initially touched down on runway 32 at Toronto International Airport at 08 hours 06 minutes and 36 seconds EDT and finally crashed at 08 hours 09 minutes 34 seconds EDT. The flight from Montreal to Toronto was routine. The flight during this interval was also routine. The "In-Range Check" was made when the aircraft was about 10 miles from Toronto International Airport on a southerly heading. The "Before-Landing Check" was made when the aircraft was about 8 miles from this Airport, and just commencing its turn onto final approach. On this Before-Landing cockpit check, which includes the lowering of the undercarriage, the item "spoilers armed" was intentionally omitted. During this period there occurred a conversation between the Captain and the First Officer as to whether the ground spoilers would be armed 'on the flare' or 'on the ground' and an agreement between them as to this was reached. The agreement was that the First Officer would arm them 'on the flare', that is, immediately before the aircraft touched down on the runway. Power was reduced then on the aircraft for the purpose of the flare and the Captain gave the order to the First Officer by saying 'OK'; and immediately thereafter the ground spoilers were deployed. The spoilers were deployed when the aircraft was about 60 feet above the runway. As a result, the aircraft sank rapidly. Practically immediately thereafter the Captain, with an exclamation, applied full throttle to all four engines and pulled back the control panel causing the nose of the aircraft to rotate upwards. During this sequence the First Officer apologized to the Captain for what he had done. Notwithstanding the action taken by the Captain, he did not succeed in preventing the aircraft from touching down on the runway. Instead, the aircraft struck the runway very heavily. It remained on the runway only about half a second and then rose back into the air at which time the ground spoilers commenced to retract and then did retract. When the aircraft struck the runway, number 4 engine and pylon separated from the aircraft and fell on the runway along with a piece of the lower wing plating (which allowed fuel to escape and subsequently ignite). Damage was also done at this time to the attachments relating to number 3 engine, but that engine after touchdown continued to function. After this touchdown, the aircraft climbed to an altitude of 3,100 feet above the ground. During this climb, there were conversations between the First Officer and the aircraft airport control tower from which it is patent, that the air crew considered that they would be able to cause their aircraft to circle for another landing attempt on runway 32. In fact, the air crew did not know, until only about 40 seconds prior to the final crash, that the happening of such final crash was irreversible. During this climb, fire and smoke were seen trailing behind the aircraft intermittently. About 2 and one half minutes after the initial touch down of this aircraft on the runway, the first explosion occurred in the right wing outboard of number 4 engine location causing parts of the outer wing structure to fall free to the ground. Six seconds later, a second explosion occurred in the vicinity of number 3 engine and the engine with its pylon ripped free of the wing and fell to the ground in flames, trailing heavy black smoke. Six and one half seconds later, a third explosion occurred which caused the loss of a large section of the right wing, including the wing tip. The aircraft then went into a violent manoeuvre, and with the right wing still ablaze, lost height rapidly and at the same time more wing plating tore free following which the aircraft struck the ground at a high velocity, about 220 knots in the attitude with the left wing high and the nose low. At final crash, all persons aboard this aircraft were killed.

Following an uneventful flight from Tampa, the captain started a night approach to Toronto-Malton Airport. During an ILS approach in poor weather conditions (300 feet ceiling), the four engine aircraft descended below the glide and hit the ground about 11 miles short of runway 10. It slid for 2,000 feet before coming to rest in flames. All 23 occupants were injured while the aircraft was destroyed.

On landing at Ghost River Post (Albany River), the single engine aircraft hit a rock and sank. The pilot was slightly injured and the aircraft was lost.