"You'll be looking for signs of life, of course. David Smith. "But for God's sake be careful." Five months later climbers found the crash site near the summit of … Could you please email me with his name? SHEAHAN. Hi Robert, After just over an hour of hiking, you reach a sign noting that you are entering the Mount Slesse Commemorative Site where Trans Canada Airlines Flight 810 crashed on December 9, 1956, and that removal of any debris is not allowed. After earning some money I traveled by train and hitch-hiked toward Mexico. (CP) -- The victims of Canada's worst air disaster, for five months lost without a trace, seem destined for a mass burial service as unidentified human fragments. I suspect it … A radar station that plotted the lost plane reported it just east of Hope at 7:09 p.m. 2 (the inner port engine), which was then shut down as a precaution (false fire warning… [1] RCMP at Hope said they had no definite information about any crash. In June 1960 he invited me to come along This "difficult and most thoroughly examined" decision was announced Wednesday night following a coroner's inquiry in this Fraser Valley city, 20 miles northwest of the crash. coast east to Hope and as far south as 10,000 foot Mount Baker in Washington state. "He could have lost his radio control, he could have blown up," said Sqdn. 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 nort. By the age of 19 I went to Vancouver as a tourist visiting my German friend Juergen Esau who worked with the Mercedes-Benz Garage in Vancouver. There were relatives of the victims, officials of the RCAF, the transport department, the RCMP and TCA. A memorial is constructed near the end of the trail below the eastern ramparts of the mountain. Just noticed your message. Wreckage not found until May 10, 1957. He said a motor had failed. and if so, are you able to share a copy of it with me? Compilation, design, artwork and concept covered by copyright. At the summit, the propeller rests in a rock cairn. . The trailhead is a short distance ahead to your right, look … One did live in Calgary the other in Vancouver. [email protected]. Icing Conditions. Free Trial - Ancestry.ca. The football players were MEL BECKET and GORDON STURTRIDGE, who played in the game, MARIO DeMARCO and RAY SYRNYK, who were spectators. [email protected] and I'll reply. Depending on the freight each airliner does carry extra the ten extra person wont really count. My Fathers School chum was engaged to Denise B. who tragically died in the accident. GenDisasters is a genealogy site, compiling information on the historic disasters, events, and tragic accidents our ancestors endured, as well as, information about their life and death. A Mountaineer party on a hike Sunday stumbled upon plane fragments which set off the helicopter search. Legend has it Fred Beckey never worked after visiting the mountain and climbing the NE Buttress because he found the missing money belt. Mount Slesse Memorial Trail ~ Flight 810 Crash Site - YouTube FamilyOldPhotos   Old-Yearbooks  TexasHistoryArchives, Parents lived down the street from Sturtridges, Canadian Birth, Marriage, & Death Records, Canadian Immigration & Naturalization Records, Port Maitland, ON Plane Crashes, Dec 1956, Danville, VA Private Plane Crash, Sep 1956, Edwards Air Force Base, CA Bell X-2 Experimental Plane Crash, Sep 1956, Newville, PA Air Force Plane Crashes, Oct 1956, Cressy, CA Air Force B-52 Jet Crash, Dec 1956. Also standing by at Vancouver were an air force medical team of two doctors and two nurses. They were the only ones to actually set foot on the treacherous rock slide-threatening pocket in the sheer vertical slope where the main portion of the plane and crash victims were scattered. I would very much like to learn more about what you have learned by studying this crash for nine years. The trail passes a memorial plaque and crash site, remembering one of Canada’s worst aviation disasters that happened on December 9, 1956. 7. On the cairn you will find one blade from a propeller and multiple other pieces of debris. It was flight 810 and was due in Calgary at 9:15 p.m. From there it was scheduled to fly on to Regina, Winnipeg, Toronto and Montreal. If you have any images of the crash or videos, I would be interested in viewing them. His first officer was JOHN BOON, 26, of North Vancouver and the stewardess was DOROTHY BJORNSSON, 24, of Swan River, Man. The plane's altitude was 10,000 feet. As far as could be determined, the North Star did not make contact with Abbotsford airport. Chilliwack, B.C. If all those aboard the aircraft were killed, it would be the worst aviation disaster in Canadian history. A land search team was being formed at Vancouver to go to any area to which evidence points as the place where the airliner came down. 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. An RCMP officer at Hope said he heard a big plane pass over the district between 7 p.m. and 9 p.m. Other people there also heard it, said the officer. . Canadian Immigration & Naturalization Records in 1959 I went to Canada as a tourist, visiting my two brothers who immigrate in 1951. Slesse Middle School Mount Slesse Middle School is a grade 6 through grade 8 school in School District #33, Chilliwack, British Columbia, Canada. Ldr. A cairn will probably be erected near the site where 62 lives were lost Dec. 9 on craggy Mount Slesse in the Cascade range of southern British Columbia. The forecast for today was 50 above zero in the Hope area. At the third peak of Mt. Peachland, where the light was seen, is about 100 miles east of the search area. First To Arrive. GenDisasters is a genealogy site, compiling information on the historic disasters, events, and tragic accidents our ancestors endured, as well as, information about their life and death. [email protected]. I am able showing up with a copy of my 8mm film - converted into a DVD. Canadian Military Records The author treats the crew and passengers and their families with empathy. As we were not able carrying much along we took just one bale down. 30-Mile Focal Point. It had exploded 7,970 feet up on Mount Slesse. A report that a bright light seen for a few minutes atop a 4,000 foot mountain in the Okanagan valley at 11 p.m. PST Sunday might be the lost plane was considered "highly improbable" by the searchmaster. Weather conditions were expected to be "fairly good" this morning. ... We continued up the scree bowl following the rocky drainage and passing an old landing gear and various plane wreckage bits from the 1956 plane crash. I found this site by researching my uncle's death. Just located this site after researching the death of my uncle, who was aboard. Add your article. If you email me at: [email protected] I'll reply. talk about a fairy tale! The crash wasn't even found until May when some climbers came across pieces of the plane. Park at the end of the drivable road and start walking. The plane crashed into Mount Slesse near Chilliwack, British Columbia, Canada, on 9 December 1956 after encountering severe icing and turbulence over the mountains. Although the book deals with a Trans Canada Airlines (TCA) crash into Mount Slesse in Dec 1956 and is a somber book to read - the book is extremely well written and held my attention throughout the book. There were 59 passengers and three crew members on board. If you decide to venture onto the foot of Mount Slesse, take caution as a rock side could occur at any time and without warning. A Canadair DC-4M2 North Star passenger plane, registered CF-TFD, was damaged beyond repair in an accident at Mount Slesse, BC, Canada. Nothing was heard from the plane after 7:09 p.m. when the pilot turned around to come back to Vancouver. He suggested that in mid-summer a mass burial service "be considered as the most practical approach to a most difficult and most thoroughly examined propblem." Thank you for the opportunity to learn more about my uncle's death and I look forward to hearing from you. Mountain climber FIPS BRODA, who stood with others at the 7,600 foot level of Mount Slesse and surveyed the wreckage said Wednesday the "nobody lived beyond the moment of impact." H. W. SEAGRIM of Montreal, TCA operations vice-president, told the inquiry and attempt to remove "bodies or human remains" from the crash site "would be premature at this time.". At the time, icing conditions prevailed from 4,500 feet upward. An officer said a numbre of people had reported hearing planes at various times. The wind was up to gale force and very gusty." This mountain made the news in December 1956 when the Trans Canada Airlines flight 810 lost an engine and became iced in winter storm conditions, got off-route trying to return to the Vancouver airport, and crashed on Slesse's Eastern flank near the summit killing all 62 people on board. Gillian, Hanns, Reports from that community of 1,200 Sunday night said that the wind was blowing in gusts up to 50 miles an hour and the sky was overcast. A. RANKIN, superintendent of flight operations for TCA here, said: "The plane carried no flares or emergency radio -- only extra blankets." Three paratroopers were standing by at Vancouver prepared to board an aircraft and jump when the wreckage is sighted. Ldr. Mount Slesse, BC Plane Crashes Into Mountains, Dec 1956. Reaching New York in 1960 I went back home. "No reports of a crash were received here." MR. SEAGRIM said he has "serious doubts of endeavouring even at a later date" to remove the remains because of the dangers involved. All those inside died instntly." This has to be done every time before reaching the next airport. Skipper of the missing plane is Captain ALLAN CLARKE, 35, of Montreal. By taking motion pictures all the way up at the Is this film from the crash site from 1956? A four prop Twin Star similar to a DC-3 collided just below the summit killing all 62 people aboard. Mr. Rien van Tilborg, Footballers Aboard. He was a passenger on this flight. Remnants of the Slesse Glacier when walking across the … It was last reported near Hope, 100 miles east of Vancouver, at 7:09 p.m. PST. WILLIAM KNIGHT PLANE DISASTER - Much has been written about the Mt. But the flight ended abruptly when icing and turbulence caused the plane to crash into Mount Slesse near Cranbrook, BC. The film about it I converted into a CD which I have send to: Hi Michelle. I am so happy to find this site! Five members of the Canadian Football League, returning from an all star game, were killed. The crash site was so remote that search teams were not able to reach it until the following spring. Privacy Policy. At first light, 18 planes -- the 12 RCAF aircraft and six others -- took off from airfields here and on Vancouver Island to search an 100 square mile area extending from the B.C. The area where the plane is believed down is mountainous and rugged, pocked with lakes, carved by canyons and gorges. Compilation, design, artwork and concept covered by copyright. The weather in the Hope district at the time the airliner disappeared was extremely bad. Contact me. "We feel the aircraft is likely down in an area southeast of Hope," he said. The station is at Birch Bay, Wash., close to the Canadian boundary. "But we'll stick with it as long as possible." Just found your site while looking for the book Disaster on Mount Slesse for my Mom. Slesse was a two day trip. G. L. SHEAHAN, RCAF searchmaster, said today in briefing the 97 airmen taking part in the search. However, overcast conditions were likely to prevail by midday and by evening the weather will be "generally unstable." 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