Date & Time:
Nov 8, 1972
Type of aircraft:
Beechcraft D18
Operator:
Registration:
CF-RLD
Flight Phase:
Flight
Flight Type:
Ambulance
Survivors:
Yes
Site:
Plain, Valley
Schedule:
Cambridge Bay – Yellowknife
MSN:
A-626
YOM:
1951
Country:
Canada
Region:
North America
Crew on board:
1
Crew fatalities:
0
Pax on board:
3
Pax fatalities:
3
Other fatalities:
0
Total fatalities:
3
Circumstances:
The twin engine airplane departed Cambridge Bay on a mercy flight to Yellowknife, carrying two Inuit patients and a nurse. In unknown circumstances, the aircraft crashed near Hottah Lake, in the region of Great Bear Lake, some 300 km north of Yellowknife. The nurse and a patient were killed while the pilot and the second patient, a boy aged 14, were injured. As the pilot suffered broken bones, the boy helped keep him alive by building a fire and shelter. The pilot resorted to eating flesh from one of the dead passengers while the boy abstained. About three weeks after the accident, the boy died of hunger and cold. On December 7, 1972 a Hercules on a routine mission picked up the ELT of the crashed plane. Shortly after two rescue specialists were dropped but unfortunately only the pilot was still alive.
