Royal Canadian Air Force - RCAF

Canadair CL-601 Challenger

The crew (one instructor and three pilots under training) departed Shearwater Airport on a local training mission. The crew decided to perform a flapless landing but the aircraft arrived too high and to correct the situation, the pilot-in-command nosed down when the aircraft landed very hard and bounced. The crew initiated a go-around procedure and decided to follow a holding pattern after being informed by ATC based in the tower that the right main gear seems to be damaged. About 40 minutes later, the right main gear fell away. The right engine then lost power and a fire erupted in the right wheel well. The crew declared an emergency and was cleared to return to Shearwater Airport. Upon landing, the aircraft sank on its right side then rolled for few dozen metres before coming to rest, bursting into flames. All four occupants escaped uninjured before an explosion occurred in the central fuel tank.

Lockheed C-130 Hercules

The aircraft was dispatched at Wainwright Airport to practice cargo drop and parachute deployment test. While passing over the runway at low height, the aircraft went out of control, struck the runway surface and crashed, bursting into flames. Five crew members were killed in the accident. The call sign is not confirmed. Those killed were: Cpt Michael G. Allen, Cpt Vincent L. Schurman, M/WO Joseph Sylvio Castonguay, Sgt Alain Michaud, M/Cpl Ronald J. McWilliam.

Lockheed C-130 Hercules

Every year, in the cold and darkness of late October, personnel at Canadian Forces Station Alert on Ellesmere Island, Nunavut, gather at a cairn near the runway to remember the crew and passengers of Hercules 130322 who lost their lives during a resupply mission to the station. On October 30, 1991, at approximately 4:40 p.m., flight 22 of Operation Boxtop – as the biannual resupply mission is called – was on its final approach to the station from Thule Air Force Base in Greenland. As the CC-130 Hercules from 435 Transport and Rescue Squadron, loaded with 3,400 litres of diesel fuel, began its descent, the pilot flying lost sight of the runway. Moments later, radar contact and communication were lost as the aircraft crashed approximately 16 km south of the station. The crew of another CC-130 Hercules, also bound for Alert, saw the fires of the crash and identified the location of Boxtop 22. The crash took the lives of five Canadian Armed Forces members – four died in the crash and one perished before help arrived – and led to the boldest and most massive air disaster rescue mission ever undertaken by the Canadian military in the High Arctic. Thirteen lives were saved. Within a half hour of the rescue call, a Hercules carrying 12 search and rescue technicians from 440 Search and Rescue Squadron in Edmonton, Alberta, was in the air. It reached the crash site seven and a half hours later, but the SAR technicians couldn’t descend due to the weather. Another Hercules from 413 Search and Rescue Squadron in Greenwood, Nova Scotia, soon joined the search. Meanwhile, search and rescue technicians formed a ground rescue team at Alert and set out overland for the crash site, guided through the darkness and horrendous weather conditions by a Hercules. The survivors, some soaked in diesel fuel, endured high winds and temperatures between -20C and -30C. Many sheltered in the tail section of the downed aircraft but others were more exposed to the elements. Finally, the 413 Squadron team finally got a break in the weather and six SAR technicians parachuted into the site more than 32 hours after the crash and began looking for survivors. They were joined soon after by more SAR technicians. When the ground rescue team finally arrived – 21 hours after it had set out – 26 rescuers were on the ground. They warmed and treated the injured and prepared them for medical evacuation. A Twin Huey helicopter from Alert made three trips to bring the survivors back to the station. Once again this year, personnel at Alert will conduct a parade on October 30 to commemorate the crash. The parade will begin at 4:30 p.m. and continue through the 4:40 p.m. timing when the crash occurred. Those killed were: Cpt John Couch, pilot, Cpt Judy Trépanier, logistics officer, M/WO Tom Jardine, regional services manager CANEX, W/O Robert Grimsley, supply technician, M/Cpl Roland Pitre, traffic technician. Those who survived were: Robert Thomson, Susan Hillier, Cpt Richard Dumoulin, logistics officer, Cpt Wilma DeGroot, doctor, Lt Joe Bales, pilot, Lt Mike Moore, navigator, M/WO Marc Tremblay, supply technician, Sgt Paul West, flight engineer, M/Cpl Tony Cobden, communications researcher, M/Cpl David Meace, radio technician, M/Cpl Mario Ellefsen, communications researcher, M/S “Monty” Montgomery, communications researcher, Pvt Bill Vance, communications researcher. Source: http://www.rcaf-arc.forces.gc.ca/en/article-template-standard.page?doc=remembering-the-crash-of-boxtop-flight-22/ig9v1k0t

Lockheed C-130 Hercules

On short final to Fort Wainwright AFB, the airplane lost height, struck approach equipments then a embankment and eventually crashed about 600 feet short of runway threshold. Both pilots and seven passengers were killed while nine other occupants were injured. The aircraft was destroyed. It was engaged in a combined exercice called 'Brim Frost'. At the time of the accident, the OAT was -46° C.

De Havilland DHC-6 Twin Otter

The crew was engaged in a SAR mission after a small plane disappeared. While flying in relative good weather conditions, the aircraft struck the slope of a mountain located in the Kananaskis Park, about 75 km west of Calgary. The aircraft was destroyed and all eight occupants were killed, three crew members and five observers. Crew: Cpt Ted Katz, pilot Cpt Wayne Plumbtree, copilot, Brian Burkett, flight engineer.

Lockheed C-130 Hercules

The CC-130H registered 130330 was engaged in a local demonstration flight under callsign Trucker 1, taking part to the celebration of the RCAF 60th anniversary. While approaching the airbase, it collided with a second RCAF CC-130H registered 130331 (callsign Trucker 2). Both airplanes crashed and were destroyed. All 10 occupants in both aircraft were killed, four crew members in each aircraft plus two observers on board 130330.

Lockheed C-130 Hercules

The CC-130H registered 130331 was engaged in a local demonstration flight under callsign Trucker 2, taking part to the celebration of the RCAF 60th anniversary. While approaching the airbase, it collided with a second RCAF CC-130H registered 130330 (callsign Trucker 1). Both airplanes crashed and were destroyed. All 10 occupants in both aircraft were killed, four crew members in each aircraft plus two observers on board 130330.

Lockheed C-130 Hercules

On final approach to runway 29, the crew attempted to drop the load that jammed on the rear ramp. The aircraft banked left, causing the left wing to hit the ground. The aircraft went out of control and crashed. All seven crew members (six Canadians and one American) were killed.

De Havilland DHC-3 Otter

The crew departed Montreal-Saint-Hubert Airport on a training mission. While cruising at low altitude, the airplane stalled and crashed in a wooded area, bursting into flames. The wreckage was found near Lac des Chats. All three occupants were killed.

De Havilland DHC-3 Otter

En route from Newburgh-Stewart to Ottawa, the single engine airplane crashed in unknown circumstances on Slide Mountain, State of New York. The wreckage was found two days later and all four occupants were killed. The crew was returning to Ottawa following an exchange course at Norfolk NAS, Virginia. Occupants: Maj Eugene Ross, Cpt Gilles Dessureault, Cpt Jean Petit, Lt Col D. R. Lawrence.