Trans-Canada Air Lines Flight 810-9

Last updated

Trans-Canada Air Lines Flight 810-9
Trans Canada Airlines North Star Heathrow 1951.jpg
A TCAL Canadair North-Star
Accident
Date9 December 1956
Summary Controlled flight into terrain
SiteMount Slesse, near Chilliwack, British Columbia, Canada
49°01′34″N121°35′11″W / 49.0261°N 121.5864°W / 49.0261; -121.5864
Aircraft
Aircraft type Canadair North Star
Operator Trans-Canada Airlines
Registration CF-TFD [1]
Flight origin Vancouver International Airport
Destination Calgary Municipal Airport
Passengers59
Crew3
Fatalities62
Injuries0
Survivors0

Trans-Canada Air Lines Flight 810-9 was a Canadair North Star on a scheduled flight from Vancouver to Calgary (continuing to Regina, Winnipeg, and Toronto). The plane crashed into Mount Slesse near Chilliwack, British Columbia, Canada, on 9 December 1956 after encountering severe icing and turbulence over the mountains. All 62 people on board died, making it one of the deadliest airline crashes ever as of that date; [2] :146 it still ranks as the sixth deadliest air disaster in Canadian history. [1]

Contents

A propeller from Trans-Canada Airlines Flight 810-9 TC 810 Prop.jpg
A propeller from Trans-Canada Airlines Flight 810-9
Debris from the crash, found on Slesse Mountain TC 810 Debris.jpg
Debris from the crash, found on Slesse Mountain

Due to the remoteness and difficulty of the terrain, the crash site was not located until the following May, when it was discovered by mountaineers Elfrida Pigou, Geoffrey Walker, and David Cathcart. [2] :93 Among the victims were five professional Canadian football players on their way home from the annual Shrine Game between the East and West all-stars in Vancouver.

The remains are in a highly inaccessible area and are protected from disturbance. [3]

Summary of events

Flight 810-9 left Vancouver International Airport at 6:10 pm on 9 December 1956, assigned to fly the Green 1 air lane east to Calgary, Alberta, though the pilots asked for and received clearance for a routing via airways Red 44 and Red 75 instead, which took the aircraft past Cultus Lake and into a weather system called a trowal . The pilots climbed to 19,200 feet (5,900 m) by 6:55, when they experienced a fire warning indication in No. 2 (the inner port engine), which was then shut down as a precaution (false fire warnings in North Star aircraft had been noted on numerous previous occasions.) Pilot Allan Clarke, 35, a former bomber commander, [4] radioed Vancouver Air Traffic Control to notify them of the event ("looks like we had a fire"), requested a return flight path on Airway Green 1 back to Vancouver Airport (the flight path with the most favourable terrain for an aircraft losing altitude), but inexplicably made a right turn instead of a left one and wound up heading west-southwest 12 miles (19 km) south of Green 1 and straight into the border mountains.

At 7:10, the plane radioed that they were passing Hope, and was given clearance to descend to 8,000 feet (2,400 m). This was the last communication received from the plane. The plane was also being tracked by an American radar installation in Birch Bay, Washington, throughout most of its flight after turning around, but at 7:11 pm the station lost track of Flight 810 in the vicinity of 8,530-foot (2,600 m) Mount Silvertip just east-northeast of where the plane went down moments later.

The cause of the crash is given in the official report as being the combination of several factors with the main ones being icing of the wings and fuselage and the loss of No. 2 engine, but many questions remain, including why the aircraft turned away from Green 1 rather than toward it (reporting to ATC that it was on Green 1), and why this was picked up by neither the pilot nor First Officer despite spirit compasses and several radio aids-to-navigation on board which should have made the error rather obvious.

As the aircraft flew straight into the third peak of Mount Slesse well in excess of cruising speed  and crashed in remote and dangerously inhospitable territory  very little information could be gleaned from the wreckage itself as to the cause of what was then the worst aircraft calamity in Canadian history. The wreckage and remains of the passengers and crew were left on the mountain at the crash site (though body parts found during the coroner's inquiry were interred in two common graves on the mountainside), and despite years of erosion and avalanche, remains of the aircraft can be seen to this day.

Victims

A memorial to the passengers and crew of Flight 810-9 on Slesse Road, Chilliwack, British Columbia Flight 810 Memorial.jpg
A memorial to the passengers and crew of Flight 810-9 on Slesse Road, Chilliwack, British Columbia

All three crew and 59 passengers were killed; among the victims were five professional Canadian football players on their way home from the annual East–West all-star game in Vancouver. [5] [6]

Notable passengers
NationalityCrewPassengersTotal
Canada34447
Hong Kong44
Japan22
United States99
Total35962

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">United Air Lines Flight 409</span> 1955 aviation accident

United Air Lines Flight 409 was a scheduled flight which originated in New York City, New York. The final flight destination was San Francisco, California, with stops in Chicago, Denver and Salt Lake City. The aircraft operating the service, a Douglas DC-4 propliner, registration N30062, crashed into Medicine Bow Peak, near Laramie, Wyoming, on October 6, 1955, killing all 66 people on board. The victims included five female members of the Mormon Tabernacle Choir and military personnel. At the time, this was the deadliest airline crash in the history of American commercial aviation. Another 66 lives had been lost earlier that year in the March 22 crash in Hawaii of a United States Navy Douglas R6D-1 Liftmaster military transport aircraft, and 66 had also died in the mid-air collision of two United States Air Force C-119G Flying Boxcars over West Germany on August 11, placing the three crashes in a three-way tie as the deadliest aviation incidents in 1955.

The Edmonton Eskimos faced the Montreal Alouettes in the Grey Cup game for the third consecutive year. And for the third consecutive year, the Edmonton Eskimos were Grey Cup champions. It was the first time in a Grey Cup that a touchdown was worth six points instead of five.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Slesse Mountain</span>

Slesse Mountain, usually referred to as Mount Slesse, is a mountain just north of the US-Canada border, in the Cascade Mountains of British Columbia, near the town of Chilliwack. It is notable for its large, steep local relief. For example, its west face drops over 1,950 m (6,398 ft) to Slesse Creek in less than 3 km (2 mi). It is also famous for its huge Northeast Buttress; see the climbing notes below. The name means "fang" in the Halkomelem language. Notable nearby mountains include Mount Rexford and Canadian Border Peak in British Columbia, and American Border Peak, Mount Shuksan, and Mount Baker, all in the US state of Washington.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cal Jones</span> American gridiron football player (1933–1956)

Calvin Jack Jones was an American professional football guard. Jones played college football for the Iowa Hawkeyes and he is one of only two players to have his jersey number retired by the school. Jones became the first Hawkeye and the first African-American, to win the Outland Trophy in 1955. He played one year with the Winnipeg Blue Bombers of the Western Interprovincial Football Union (WIFU). He died in a plane crash after playing in the East–West All-Star Game.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Asiana Airlines Flight 733</span> 1993 plane crash in South Korea

Asiana Airlines Flight 733 was a domestic Asiana Airlines passenger flight from Seoul-Gimpo International Airport to Mokpo Airport (MPK), South Korea. The Boeing 737 crashed on July 26, 1993, in the Hwawon area of Haenam County, South Jeolla Province. The cause of the accident was determined to be pilot error leading to controlled flight into terrain. 68 of the 116 passengers and crew on board were killed. The crash resulted in the first hull loss of a 737-500.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">All Nippon Airways Flight 60</span> 1966 aviation accident

All Nippon Airways (ANA) Flight 60 was a Boeing 727-81 aircraft making a domestic commercial flight from Sapporo Chitose Airport to Tokyo Haneda International Airport. On February 4, 1966, all 133 people on board died when the plane mysteriously crashed into Tokyo Bay about 10.4 km from Haneda in clear weather conditions while on a night approach. The accident was the worst involving a single aircraft and was also the deadliest accident in Japan at that time until All Nippon Airways Flight 58 crashed 5 years later, killing 162.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Edwin Harrison</span> American gridiron football player and coach (born 1984)

Edwin Charles Harrison is the running backs and quality control coach for the Toronto Argonauts of the Canadian Football League (CFL). He is a former professional gridiron football guard who was a member of the Calgary Stampeders and the Kansas City Chiefs. He won a Grey Cup championship with the Stampeders in 2014. He played college football at Colorado.

Melvin Howard "Mel" Becket, was an American college football and professional Canadian football player, and was one of 62 people who died on Trans-Canada Air Lines Flight 810, on December 9, 1956.

Mario Joseph DeMarco, was an American college football, National Football League (NFL), and professional Canadian football player, and was one of 62 people who died on Trans-Canada Air Lines Flight 810, on December 9, 1956.

Gordon Henry Sturtridge was a professional Canadian football player, and was one of 62 people who died on Trans-Canada Air Lines Flight 810, on December 9, 1956.

Raymond Nicholas "Ray" Syrnyk, was a professional Canadian football player, and was one of 62 people who died on Trans-Canada Air Lines Flight 810.

In aeronautics, loss of control (LOC) is the unintended departure of an aircraft from controlled flight and is a significant factor in several aviation accidents worldwide. In 2015 it was the leading cause of general aviation accidents. Loss of control may be the result of mechanical failure, external disturbances, aircraft upset conditions, or inappropriate crew actions or responses.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2012 Mount Salak Sukhoi Superjet crash</span> Aviation disaster

On 9 May 2012, a Sukhoi Superjet 100 airliner on a demonstration tour in Indonesia crashed into Mount Salak, in the province of West Java. All 37 passengers and 8 crew on board were killed. The plane had taken off minutes before from Jakarta's Halim Airport on a promotional flight for the recently launched jet, and was carrying Sukhoi personnel and representatives of various local airlines.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Merpati Nusantara Airlines Flight 5601</span> 1992 aviation accident

Merpati Nusantara Airlines Flight 5601 (MNA5601/MZ5601) was a domestic scheduled passenger flight, that departed Achmad Yani International Airport, Semarang, Indonesia bound for Husein Sastranegara International Airport, Bandung, Indonesia. On 18 October 1992, the two-year-old CASA/IPTN CN-235-10 was on approach to Bandung when it crashed into the side of Mount Puntang, near Mount Papandayan, West Java, Indonesia at 1:30 pm in bad weather. The aircraft exploded on impact killing all twenty seven passengers and four crew on board.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Paradise Airlines Flight 901A</span> 1964 aviation accident

Paradise Airlines Flight 901A was a scheduled passenger flight from San Jose Municipal Airport to Tahoe Valley Airport in the United States. On March 1, 1964, the Lockheed L-049 Constellation serving the flight crashed near Genoa Peak, on the eastern side of Lake Tahoe during a heavy snowstorm, killing all 85 aboard and destroying the plane. After the crash site was located, the recovery of the wreckage and the bodies of the victims took most of a month. Crash investigators concluded that the primary cause of the accident was the pilot's decision to attempt to land at Tahoe Valley Airport when the visibility was too low due to clouds and snowstorms in the area. After aborting the landing attempt, the flight crew lost awareness of the plane's location as it flew below the minimum safe altitude in mountainous terrain. The pilot likely tried to fly through a low mountain pass in an attempt to divert to the airport in Reno, Nevada, and crashed into the left shoulder of the pass. At the time, it was the second-deadliest single-plane crash in United States history, and remains the worst accident involving the Lockheed L-049 Constellation.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Trigana Air Flight 267</span> 2024 aviation accident

Trigana Air Flight 267 was a scheduled passenger flight from Sentani to Oksibil in the eastern Indonesian province of Papua. On 16 August 2015, the ATR 42 turboprop operating the service crashed on approach in the Bintang highlands region of Oksibil, killing all 49 passengers and 5 crew members.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tara Air Flight 193</span> 2016 passenger plane crash in Dana, Nepal

Tara Air Flight 193 was a scheduled domestic passenger flight from Pokhara to Jomsom, Nepal. On 24 February 2016, eight minutes after take-off, the aircraft serving the flight, a Viking Air DHC-6-400 Twin Otter went missing with 23 people on board. Hours later, the wreckage was found near the village of Dana, Myagdi District. There were no survivors. It was Tara Air's deadliest accident.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">West Wind Aviation Flight 282</span> 2017 plane crash in Saskatchewan, Canada

West Wind Aviation Flight 282 was a domestic passenger flight from Fond-du-Lac Airport to Stony Rapids Airport, Canada. The aircraft was an ATR 42-320 registered C-GWEA. On 13 December 2017, shortly after taking off from Fond-du-Lac, the ATR-42 lost altitude and hit the ground. All 25 passengers and crew initially survived the crash, but one passenger later died of his injuries in hospital. Investigation on the cause of the crash determined that it was caused by ice contamination on the aircraft.

References

  1. 1 2 Accident description at the Aviation Safety Network
  2. 1 2 O'Keefe, Betty; MacDonald, Ian (2006). Disaster on Mount Slesse. Caitlin Press. ISBN   1-894759-21-4.
  3. MeClement, Fred (14 July 1962). "The Strange legacy of TCA flight 810-9's crash on Mt. Slesse on 9 December 1956 between Vancouver and Calgary". Maclean's. Toronto Maclean-Hunter Limited. in: Michael Benedict, ed. (2000). In the Face of Disaster . Viking. pp.  277–289. ISBN   0-670-88883-4.
  4. "Airliner's Fate Still Hidden In Rugged Crags". The San Bernardino Daily Sun. Vol. 63, no. 131. San Bernardino, California. United Press International. 31 January 1957. p. 8.
  5. McNeil, Shane (2 November 2012). "Engraved on a Nation: A Family United Through Tragedy". The Sports Network. Retrieved 2 November 2012.
  6. Beamish, Mike (1 November 2012). "Fatal 1956 CFL air crash-Engraved on a Nation: Recalling a flight taken, and not taken". The Vancouver Sun. Archived from the original on 8 May 2018. Retrieved 2 November 2012.