The Rescue 807 Crashes refers to three related aircraft accidents in Kananaskis Country, Alberta on 6 and 14 June 1986. Two aircraft crashed on separate days while searching for the first aircraft. [1] All 13 people on board the three aircraft were killed and subsequently three mountain lakes were named Memorial Lakes in remembrance of those who lost their lives. [2]
A Cessna 182-R (some sources say Cessna 185) piloted by Ken Wolff was transporting Orval Pall, a wildlife biologist, over the Kananasks Country, part of the Rocky Mountains on 6 June 1986 as part of a project monitoring bighorn sheep. Nearby Calgary had been chosen to host the 1988 Winter Olympics and efforts were under way to track the Games' impact on Mount Allan (Nakiska). [3] The plane crashed on a forested slope of Mount Kidd and was difficult to find due to being broken into pieces and scattered beneath the canopy. The pilot's friends began searching within hours of the plane's disappearance.
Shortly after Wolff's plane was reported missing, a search effort was hastily started by air. A Cessna 185 piloted by Bruce Pratt with two spotters crashed soon thereafter into Mount Lougheed, killing all three. Like the first plane, no one saw the plane crash, so it was unknown if any passengers survived.
Several agencies formed search groups on both the ground and in the air to find the two missing planes. The Canadian Air Force also joined the search and rescue operations with multiple aircraft. Hundreds of volunteers also searched on the ground. Foul weather hampered search efforts, [4] but on 9 June the plane piloted by Bruce Pratt was found. [1]
At 14:52 (MDT) on 14 June, eight days after the first two aircraft went down, a Canadian Armed Forces de Havilland Canada DHC-6 Twin Otter with 8 people on board, crashed "starting a small forest fire". [5]
The accident was caused by an illusion where the sun's high angle and lack of shadow on the terrain caused the pilot to perceive the mountain's distance deceptively far away. [6]
Ken Wolff and Orval Pall were found on 18 June 1986. [7]
The three lakes in the area were re-named "Memorial Lakes" by the Government of Alberta and a cairn commemorating the crash was installed next to the highest altitude lake. [1]
The de Havilland Canada DHC-6 Twin Otter is a Canadian STOL utility aircraft developed by de Havilland Canada in the mid-1960s and still in production today. De Havilland Canada produced it from 1965 to 1988; Viking Air purchased the type certificate, then restarted production in 2008 before re-adopting the DHC name in 2022. In 2023 DHC restarted production of the 300 series, in addition to the Series 400 produced by Viking. The aircraft's fixed tricycle undercarriage, STOL capabilities, twin turboprop engines and high rate of climb have made it a successful commuter airliner, typically seating 18–20 passengers, as well as a cargo and medical evacuation aircraft. In addition, the Twin Otter has been popular with commercial skydiving operations, and is used by the United States Army Parachute Team and the 98th Flying Training Squadron of the United States Air Force.
The de Havilland Canada DHC-3 Otter is a single-engined, high-wing, propeller-driven, short take-off and landing (STOL) aircraft developed by de Havilland Canada. It was conceived to be capable of performing the same roles as the earlier and highly successful Beaver, including as a bush plane, but is overall a larger aircraft.
Air Tindi is an airline based in Yellowknife, Northwest Territories, Canada. It operates scheduled and on demand charter services. Its main base is Yellowknife Airport and the airline was previously owned by the Arychuk family. The name Tindi means "the big lake" or "Great Slave Lake" in the local native Tłı̨chǫ Yatiì language.
Kenn Borek Air is an airline based in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. It operates regional passenger and cargo services, contract operations in the Arctic and Antarctic and aircraft leasing. Its main base is at Calgary International Airport. It charters aircraft for scientific expeditions, oil exploration, etc., and operates air ambulance services.
Austin Airways was a passenger airline and freight carrier based in Timmins, Ontario, and one of the oldest in Canada.
PAL Airlines is a Canadian regional airline with headquarters at St. John's International Airport in St John's, Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada. PAL operates scheduled passenger, cargo, air ambulance and charter services. PAL is the commercial airline arm of the PAL Group of Companies. In addition to its head office, it also has bases in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Happy Valley-Goose Bay, and Montreal, Quebec. PAL is the second largest regional airline operator in Eastern Canada next to Jazz Aviation.
Lethbridge Airport, previously Lethbridge County Airport, is located 4 nautical miles south-southeast of Lethbridge, Alberta, Canada. It is 10–15 driving minutes from downtown Lethbridge, and has scheduled service to the city of Calgary, Alberta. The airport is classified as an airport of entry by Nav Canada and is staffed by the Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) on a call-out basis from the Sweetgrass-Coutts Border Crossing. CBSA officers at this airport can handle general aviation aircraft only, with no more than 15 passengers. The airport hosts the biennial Lethbridge International Airshow.
Mission Aviation Fellowship (MAF) is a Christian organization that provides aviation, communications, and learning technology services to more than 1,000 Christian and humanitarian agencies, as well as thousands of isolated missionaries and indigenous villagers in the world's most remote areas. There are three major operational centers – Nampa, Idaho; Ashford, England; and Cairns, Australia. These centres provide operational support to programs in the Americas, Africa and Asia Pacific regions. In 2010, MAF served in more than 55 countries, flying 201,710 passengers with a fleet of some 130 aircraft.
Kenmore Air Harbor, Inc., doing business as Kenmore Air, is an American airline with its headquarters on the grounds of Kenmore Air Harbor in Kenmore, Washington, United States, north of Seattle. It operates scheduled and charter seaplane and landplane service to destinations throughout western Washington and southwestern British Columbia, as well as seaplane "flightseeing" flights around Seattle. In addition to its corporate headquarters, seaplane maintenance facility and terminal in Kenmore, the airline has hub operations in Seattle for seaplanes at Lake Union Seaplane Base and for land-based airplanes at Boeing Field. It also operates a maintenance facility for its airplane fleet at Boeing Field.
The Noorduyn Norseman, also known as the C-64 Norseman, is a Canadian single-engine bush plane designed to operate from unimproved surfaces. Distinctive stubby landing gear protrusions from the lower fuselage make it easily recognizable.
Alkan Air Ltd. is an airline headquartered in Whitehorse, Yukon, Canada. The company operates seven-day-a-week charter and air ambulance (medevac) services. The Whitehorse and Mayo (seasonal) bases generally focus on wheel and floatplane charter and medevac services in northern and western Canada and Alaska. The Nanaimo, BC base provides charter and medevac services, focused primarily in western Canada, the western United States and Mexico. From 2016 to 2018, Alkan also operated scheduled flights between Erik Nielsen Whitehorse International Airport and Watson Lake Airport.
Rocky Mountain Airways was an American commuter airline headquartered in Hangar No. 6 of Stapleton International Airport in Denver, Colorado. It was sold to Texas Air Corporation/Continental Airlines in 1986 and was operated as a Continental Express subsidiary until its operations were merged with Britt Airways in 1991. The airline flew from Denver's Stapleton International Airport to a variety of destinations in Colorado, Nebraska and Wyoming. The airline operated out of the old commuter terminal in Concourse A at Stapleton.
Sierra Pacific Airlines is an American charter airline based in Tucson, Arizona, USA. It operates passenger charters and sub-charters for other airlines, as well as for the United States Forest Service, United States Military and the United States Marshals Service with jet aircraft. Sierra Pacific also previously operated scheduled passenger service in the western U.S. with prop and turboprop aircraft.
Northern Thunderbird Air Inc or NT Air is a Canadian charter airline and medevac service based in Prince George, British Columbia.
Canadian Armed Forces Search and Rescue is the collective name used to refer to search and rescue (SAR) resources and operations within the Canadian Armed Forces (CAF). The Royal Canadian Navy (RCN) and Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF) are jointly responsible for Canada’s SAR operations.
418 Search and Rescue Operational Training Squadron is a unit of the Royal Canadian Air Force, formed during World War II.
On 26 January 1950, the Douglas C-54 Skymaster serial number 42-72469 disappeared en route from Alaska to Montana, with 44 people aboard. The aircraft made its last radio contact two hours into its eight-hour flight. Despite one of the largest rescue efforts carried out by a joint effort between Canadian and US military forces, no trace of the aircraft has ever been found.
Air Spray (1967) Ltd. trading as Air Spray Ltd. of Edmonton, Alberta, Canada and Air Spray USA Inc of Chico, California is a private company specializing in aerial wildfire suppression using air tanker or water bomber aircraft. Air Spray was owned and operated by Canada's Aviation Hall of Fame inductee, Donald T. Hamilton until his death in 2011. The company continued to be owned and operated by his daughter, Lynn Hamilton, of Foothills, Alberta.
Ribbon Peak is a 2,880-metre (9,450-foot) summit located in Kananaskis Country in the Canadian Rockies of Alberta, Canada. Ribbon's nearest higher neighbor is Mount Bogart, 1.0 km (0.62 mi) to the southwest. Ribbon Peak is situated four kilometres northwest of Mount Kidd, and both can be seen from Highway 40 near the Kananaskis Village junction along Highway 40.
RCAF Station Puntzi Mountain is a closed United States Air Force (USAF) and Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF) General Surveillance radar station. It was located in Canada 200 miles north of Vancouver, British Columbia.