Canadian Pacific Air Lines Flight 21

1965 airliner bombing

Canadian Pacific Air Lines Flight 21
Occurrence
A Canadian Pacific Air Lines Douglas DC-6 similar to the accident aircraft
Date	July 8, 1965
Summary	Explosion of a device
Site	32 km (20 mi; 17 nmi) west of 100 Mile House, British Columbia. 51°35′46″N 121°45′49″W / 51.59611°N 121.76361°W / 51.59611; -121.76361
Aircraft
Aircraft type	Douglas DC-6B
Operator	Canadian Pacific Air Lines
Registration	CF-CUQ
Flight origin	Vancouver International Airport, British Columbia, Canada
Destination	Whitehorse International Airport, Yukon, Canada
Passengers	46
Crew	6
Fatalities	52
Survivors	0

Canadian Pacific Air Lines Flight 21 was a scheduled domestic flight from Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, to Whitehorse, Yukon, Canada, via Prince George, Fort St. John, Fort Nelson and Watson Lake on July 8, 1965. The Douglas DC-6B plane crashed near 100 Mile House, British Columbia, taking the lives of all 52 aboard. An inquest determined that the explosion was the result of a bomb, but the crime remains unsolved.

Incident

While en route from Vancouver to Prince George the DC-6 Empress of City of Buenos Aires, piloted by captain John Alfred Steele (41), first officer Warner Murray Wells (29), flight engineer Stanley Edward Clarke (26) crashed after passing Ashcroft, British Columbia. About 15:40, three mayday calls were heard by air traffic control in Vancouver. An explosion had occurred in the left aft lavatory. The tail separated from the fuselage. The aircraft spiralled and crashed into a wooded area. All 46 passengers and 6 crew perished. The crash site is 40 km (25 mi) west of 100 Mile House. Remnants of the DC-6 remain at the crash site near Dog Creek.

Aftermath

A coroner's inquest concluded "an explosive substance foreign to the normal contents of the aircraft" caused the crash. A witness on the ground saw the tail of the aircraft separate from the fuselage and debris trail out behind the aircraft. The debris turned out to be the bodies of passengers forced out by the depressurization of the aircraft. The fuselage was consumed by fire where it fell, but the tail, found 500 metres away, was not. Rescue crews reached the crash site while the fire continued to burn but no survivors were found. Crash investigators found traces of acid that led them to believe a bomb in the lavatory was involved. Traces of potassium nitrate and carbon, consistent with a "low-velocity explosion" were found. Gunpowder or stumping powder causes a low-velocity explosion. The explosion damaged bulkheads in the lavatory, severed pipes in the tail and tore a metre-wide hole in the side of the fuselage. The Royal Canadian Mounted Police investigation focused on four passengers although none was a suspect. No one claimed responsibility and no charges were ever laid. The source of the explosion remains unknown.

2018 investigation

The crash was re-examined by experts during six episodes of the second season of the CBC true crime podcast Uncover.

References

^ McMartin, Pete (July 7, 1995). "The day the sky exploded: 52 people plunged to their deaths on July 8, 1965, and nobody knows why it happened". The Vancouver Sun. pp. B.3.
^ Criminal Occurrence description at the Aviation Safety Network. Retrieved on July 25, 2008.
Foy, Julia; Meiszner, Peter (August 30, 2013). "Crash of Flight 21 near 100 Mile House almost 50 years ago still a mystery". Global News. Retrieved August 8, 2023.
"Uncover Podcast, CBC". cbc.ca. CBC. Retrieved November 13, 2018.

External links

v t e Aviation accidents and incidents in Canada
1940s	American Airlines Flight 1 (October 1941) Saint-Donat RCAF Liberator III crash (October 1943) 1946 American Overseas Airlines Douglas DC-4 crash (October 1946) Canadian Pacific Air Lines Flight 108 (September 1949)
1950s	Douglas C-54D disappearance (January 1950) British Columbia B-36 crash (February 1950) Trans-Canada Air Lines Flight 9 (May 1954) Convent Crash (May 1956) Trans-Canada Air Lines Flight 810 (December 1956) Maritime Central Airways Flight 315 (August 1957) Pan Am Flight 115 (February 1959)
1960s	Trans-Canada Air Lines Flight 831 (November 1963) Canadian Pacific Air Lines Flight 21 (July 1965) ČSA Flight 523 (September 1967)
1970s	Air Canada Flight 621 (July 1970) American Airlines Flight 96 (June 1972) Panarctic Oils Flight 416 (October 1974) TWA Flight 355 (September 1976) Pacific Western Airlines Flight 314 (February 1978) Air Canada Flight 189 (June 1978) Quebecair Flight 255 (March 1979)
1980s	Gimli Glider (July 1983) Pacific Western Airlines Flight 501 (March 1984) Arrow Air Flight 1285R (December 1985) Air Ontario Flight 1363 (March 1989)
1990s	Air Canada Flight 646 (December 1997) Propair Flight 420 (June 1998) Swissair Flight 111 (September 1998)
2000s	Korean Air Flight 085 (September 2001) MK Airlines Flight 1602 (October 2004) Air France Flight 358 (August 2005) Cougar Helicopters Flight 91 (March 2009) Northwest Airlines Flight 253 (December 2009)
2010s	Conair CV-580 crash (July 2010) Missinippi Airways Cessna 208 crash (July 2011) First Air Flight 6560 (August 2011) Air Canada Flight 624 (March 2015) West Wind Aviation Flight 282 (December 2017) Sky Lease Cargo Flight 4854 (November 2018)
2020s	Toronto Pearson International Airport heist (April 2023) Northwestern Air Flight 738 (January 2024)

v t e Aviation accidents and incidents in 1965 (1965)
Jan 4 Aeroflot Flight 101/X-20Jan 16 USAF KC-135 Wichita crashFeb 6 LAN-Chile Flight 107Feb 8 Eastern Air Lines Flight 663Mar 7 Aeroflot Flight 542Mar 8 Aeroflot Flight 513Apr 14 British United Airways Flight 1030XMay 5 Iberia Flight 401May 20 Pakistan International Airlines Flight 705Jun 28 Pan Am Flight 843Jul 1 Continental Airlines Flight 12Jul 6 Little Baldon Hastings crashJul 8 Canadian Pacific Air Lines Flight 21Jul 10 Skyways Coach-Air Avro 748Jul 20 Cambrian Airways Liverpool crashJul 23 Allegheny Airlines Flight 604Aug 16 United Air Lines Flight 389Aug 24 Hong Kong US Marines KC-130F CrashSep 17 Pan Am Flight 292Sep 19 Gujarat Beechcraft incidentOct 20 Philippine Air Lines Flight 741Oct 27 British European Airways Vickers Vanguard crashNov 2 Argentine Air Force C-54 disappearanceNov 8 American Airlines Flight 383Nov 11 United Air Lines Flight 227Nov 11 Aeroflot Flight 99Dec 4 Carmel mid-air collisionDec 5 Philippine Sea A-4 incident
1964 ◄ ► 1966

Aviation accidents and incidents in 1965 (1965)

Jan 4 Aeroflot Flight 101/X-20Jan 16 USAF KC-135 Wichita crashFeb 6 LAN-Chile Flight 107Feb 8 Eastern Air Lines Flight 663Mar 7 Aeroflot Flight 542Mar 8 Aeroflot Flight 513Apr 14 British United Airways Flight 1030XMay 5 Iberia Flight 401May 20 Pakistan International Airlines Flight 705Jun 28 Pan Am Flight 843Jul 1 Continental Airlines Flight 12Jul 6 Little Baldon Hastings crashJul 8 Canadian Pacific Air Lines Flight 21Jul 10 Skyways Coach-Air Avro 748Jul 20 Cambrian Airways Liverpool crashJul 23 Allegheny Airlines Flight 604Aug 16 United Air Lines Flight 389Aug 24 Hong Kong US Marines KC-130F CrashSep 17 Pan Am Flight 292Sep 19 Gujarat Beechcraft incidentOct 20 Philippine Air Lines Flight 741Oct 27 British European Airways Vickers Vanguard crashNov 2 Argentine Air Force C-54 disappearanceNov 8 American Airlines Flight 383Nov 11 United Air Lines Flight 227Nov 11 Aeroflot Flight 99Dec 4 Carmel mid-air collisionDec 5 Philippine Sea A-4 incident

1964 ◄ ► 1966

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