Crash of a Grumman G-73 Mallard near Kildala: 5 killed

Date & Time: Aug 3, 1955
Type of aircraft:
Grumman G-73 Mallard
Operator:
Registration:
CF-IOA
Flight Phase:
Flight
Flight Type:
Scheduled Revenue Flight
Survivors:
No
Site:
Mountains
Schedule:
Kitimat – Kemano
MSN:
J-39
YOM:
1948
Location:
Kildala
British Columbia
Country:
Canada
Region:
North America
Crew on board:
2
Crew fatalities:
Pax on board:
3
Pax fatalities:
Other fatalities:
Total fatalities:
5
Circumstances:
En route from Kitimat to Kemano, while cruising at an altitude of 5,000 feet, the seaplane hit the rocky slope of a mountain and crashed. As the airplane failed to arrive at destination, SAR operations were initiated but eventually suspended four weeks later. On 25 July 1958, almost three years later, the crew of a helicopter owned by Okanagan Helicopter Ltd spotted the wreckage near the Kildala Pass after snow had melted for the first time in several years on the rock-strewn mountainside. A team was dropped at an altitude of 3,500 feet and climbed another 300 feet to reach the wreckage. All five occupants were killed instantly.
Crew:
Edward Bell, pilot,
Kendall King, copilot.
Passengers:
David Milton Owen,
Lt Col MacGregor MacIntosh,
Albert Patrick Gorman,
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