And it never left... |
On November 3, 1975, C-FOOY, a 1944 Douglas C47A 10DK Dakota 3 (DC-3) belonging to Kenting Atlas Aviation was carrying a group of Inuit on a charter from a meeting in Pond Inlet back to Iqaluit (or Frobisher Bay as it was then known). Bad weather forced it to miss refuelling in Pangnirtung or Broughton Island (now Qikiqtarjuaq). It ran out of fuel and landed on the tundra about 45 nm north east of Iqaluit. The passengers included many of the original Inuit group that worked to develop the idea of Nunavut, which became a territory on April 1, 1999. Like many arctic plane crashes, the plane is still there to this day.
Search and Rescue in Nunavut volunteers use the wreck as a target for spotter training. The winter photo (upper left) was taken by Kenn Borek pilot Marcel Siegenthaler during a training run in January 2012. The engines have been removed and much of the useful material stripped. And it now serves as a shelter for hunters, as you can see in this summer photo (left) taken by Patrick Nagle in Cessna 172 C-GOLJ. Click on either photo to enlarge.
John Amagoalik is one of the key proponents of Nunavut, and spent much of his career working toward the creation of the territory. He was one of the passengers on that flight back in 1975. His story of the plane crash is included in his book Changing the Face of Canada, published by Nunavut Arctic College. The book tells John's personal story. It is a good read. You'll find an excerpt from the book which tells of the crash here. You can find a pdf of the whole book here. You may be able to order a copy from here.
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Last Updated on Saturday, 24 October 2015 20:39 |