AC Flt 621 Anniversary

[lenaitch]

We are just past the 50th anniversary (July 5, 1970) of the crash of DC-8 AC Flight 621 into a farm field in what is now the City of Brampton. A friend was working with the City on a memorial event that obviously had to be downgraded to virtual and, for some reason, was truncated from one hour to about 12 minutes. Another friend was one of the, if not the, first responder on scene. A scene of total devastation which he described a "eerily quiet" with only the sound of a few small spot fires and the flapping of debris in the breeze. 109 killed. The Woodbridge arena was used as a temporary morgue.

There is now a memorial garden at the site which is registered as a cemetery because of the likelihood of buried remains.

50th Anniversary Air Canada Flight 621 Crash

www.brampton.ca

Air Canada Flight 621 - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

 

[AlvinofDiaspar]

We are just past the 50th anniversary (July 5, 1970) of the crash of DC-8 AC Flight 621 into a farm field in what is now the City of Brampton. A friend was working with the City on a memorial event that obviously had to be downgraded to virtual and, for some reason, was truncated from one hour to about 12 minutes. Another friend was one of the, if not the, first responder on scene. A scene of total devastation which he described a "eerily quiet" with only the sound of a few small spot fires and the flapping of debris in the breeze. 109 killed. The Woodbridge arena was used as a temporary morgue.

There is now a memorial garden at the site which is registered as a cemetery because of the likelihood of buried remains.

50th Anniversary Air Canada Flight 621 Crash

www.brampton.ca

Air Canada Flight 621 - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

If I recall correctly someone went back to the site maybe a decade or so ago and found that there is still extant human remains (nevermind aircraft debris).

Wait - we actually had a thread on UT: https://urbantoronto.ca/forum/threads/air-canada-flight-621-crash-in-brampton.7308/

More on the human remains issue:

Ghosts of AC Flight 621 haunt Brampton field

Flight 621's ghosts haunt Brampton field Human bones found at 1970 crash site Curious sift through remains of tragedy JIM WILKES STAFF REPORTER Jul. 6, 2004. 06:35 AM Thirty-four years after the crash of an Air Canada jet, a Brampton field is giving up ghosts of Flight 621. Human bones and chunks...

theairlinewebsite.com

Kind of surprised (and disgusted) by the amount of handwashing by the powers that be and the callous attitude towards it.

AoD

 

[lenaitch]

If I recall correctly someone went back to the site maybe a decade or so ago and found that there is still extant human remains (nevermind aircraft debris).

Wait - we actually had a thread on UT: https://urbantoronto.ca/forum/threads/air-canada-flight-621-crash-in-brampton.7308/

More on the human remains issue:

Ghosts of AC Flight 621 haunt Brampton field

Flight 621's ghosts haunt Brampton field Human bones found at 1970 crash site Curious sift through remains of tragedy JIM WILKES STAFF REPORTER Jul. 6, 2004. 06:35 AM Thirty-four years after the crash of an Air Canada jet, a Brampton field is giving up ghosts of Flight 621. Human bones and chunks...

theairlinewebsite.com

Kind of surprised (and disgusted) by the amount of handwashing by the powers that be and the callous attitude towards it.

AoD

You are correct. The angle of impact was steep so the main impact crater was quite deep. The normal freeze/thaw cycle slowly works items to the surface. Small pieces of aircraft debris have been found as well as bone fragments that I believe were shown to be human.

 

[Tim MacDonald]

Read the CVR transcript from the crash of the two month old DC-8. It is chilling. The memorial, as well as the Air India 182 memorial at Humber bay, are worth a visit.

 

[Tim MacDonald]

Some photos from my visit to the 621 memorial in July of 2015.

 

[AlvinofDiaspar]

Read the CVR transcript from the crash of the two month old DC-8. It is chilling. The memorial, as well as the Air India 182 memorial at Humber bay, are worth a visit.

The pilots messed up. In any case, early jet flights are (relatively) shockingly accident prone.

AoD

 

[Tim MacDonald]

The pilots messed up. In any case, early jet flights are (relatively) shockingly accident prone.

AoD

It's actually more complicated than that. There was a big disconnect between what the Air Canada Ground School training department and pilots believed in terms of when the ground spoilers could be activated and actual scenarios in which the ground spoilers were able deploy.

 

[lenaitch]

Read the CVR transcript from the crash of the two month old DC-8. It is chilling. The memorial, as well as the Air India 182 memorial at Humber bay, are worth a visit.

As is Peggy's Cove (Swissair Flt 111) if you are down that way. A few years ago on a bike trip we stopped into the Flight 93 National Historic Site in rural Pennsylvania. It is quite compelling.

 

[Tim MacDonald]

Was at the SR111 memorial in 2008. I just can't do any of the 9/11 stuff since it affected me badly. I lost my job, lost my home and had a personal connection to the plane that crashed into the pentagon. Maybe some day I will get there but 19 yrs later and it is still as fresh to me as the day it happened.

Sr111 memorial:

AI182 Memorial:

 

[Tim MacDonald]

Remembering the 109 lives lost on the 52nd anniversary of the crash. Photos from last year.