What happened
The incident involved two Anson aircraft conducting a ferry mission from Winnipeg to Ottawa. The flight included an intermediate stop at Armstrong Airport. One aircraft, registered as 6717, was accompanied by a second Anson with the registration 6267. Both planes were carrying three crew members each.
Shortly after departing Armstrong Airport, the two aircraft were flying in close formation at low altitude. During this phase of flight, the wing of aircraft 6267 made contact with the rudder of aircraft 6717. The impact caused 6717 to nose down and crash directly into the ground. Meanwhile, aircraft 6267 initially rose but subsequently stalled, entering a steep left turn before impacting the terrain.
Both aircraft were destroyed upon impact. All six crew members across the two planes lost their lives in the accident.
Findings
The official investigation determined that the collision resulted from the pilots' failure to adhere to specific operational instructions. The crew had been explicitly directed not to fly in close formation using a right echelon configuration. Additionally, the findings noted that the pilots had received very little or no recent formal training on this specific maneuvering technique.