Date & Time: Jul 13, 1945 at 1655 LT
Type of aircraft:
Consolidated B-24 Liberator
Operator:
Registration:
11121
Flight Phase:
Flight
Flight Type:
Training
Survivors:
No
Site:
Mountains
Schedule:
Patricia Bay – Comox – Tofino – Patricia Bay
MSN:
3986
YOM:
1944
Location:
Bamfield (Vancouver Island)
British Columbia
Country:
Canada
Region:
North America
Crew on board:
7
Crew fatalities:
7
Pax on board:
7
Pax fatalities:
7
Other fatalities:
0
Total fatalities:
14
Circumstances:
The airplane departed Tofino at 1643LT on the last leg of routine cross country exercise with an ETA in Patricia Bay at 17h41. On board were seven passengers and seven crew members. The last recorded communication with the crew was at 1655LT. While cruising at an altitude of 2,800 feet in limited visibility due to clouds, the aircraft collided with trees and crashed in a dense wooded and hilly terrain some 12 km east southeast of Bamfield, in the Somerset Range. The wreckage was found for days later, on July 17, in an isolated area. All 14 occupants were killed.
Crew (11th Squadron):
F/O William Edward Davies, pilot,
F/O Robert Joseph Martello, pilot,
F/Sgt Donald William Hope, flight engineer,
F/O Nicholas Maxwell Popovich, navigator,
F/O Harry Alexander Lowe, wireless operator,
W/O Victor Gilbert Crosson, wireless operator,
W/O Joseph Bertrand Presse, wireless operator,
Passengers:
Sgt Pamela Gladys Bennett,
Cpl Norman Marshall Johnson,
Cpl William Hrysko,
Cpl Nora Johnston,
Lac Rraymond Vallentine Kitely,
Lac L. H. Tull,
Law Margaret Mann.
Probable cause:
Controlled flight into terrain.
Final Report:
11121.pdf6.22 MB