Crash of a Consolidated B-24J Liberator off Bell Island: 11 killed

Date & Time: Jan 9, 1945
Operator:
Registration:
KH173
Flight Phase:
Flight Type:
Survivors:
No
Schedule:
Abbotsford - Abbotsford
MSN:
1329
YOM:
1944
Country:
Crew on board:
11
Crew fatalities:
Pax on board:
0
Pax fatalities:
Other fatalities:
Total fatalities:
11
Circumstances:
The crew left RCAF Abbotsford in the day for a training mission over the Vancouver Island. En route, the aircraft went into a cloudy area and eventually crashed into the sea off Bell Island. Only few debris and personal effects were recovered but not trace of the aircraft nor the 11 crew members was ever found.
Crew (5th OTU):
P/O Thomas Henry Bastable,
P/O Robert Henry Burr,
Sgt Frank Cocksey,
Sgt James Brown Cuthbertson,
F/O Cyril Irwin Mitchell,
Sgt William David Newton Morgans,
Sgt Alan Simpson,
Sgt George Arthur Snelling,
F/Lt Kenneth Edmund Spence,
Sgt Peter Stead,
P/O James Francis Trickey.