Mission and Departure
On October 1, 1957, a Canso flying boat completed a fuel delivery to an isolated communications site at Sona Lake and began its return trip. The three-man crew watched dusk overtake the vast Labrador wilderness.
Engine Failure
Approximately 80 kilometers from its destination, both engines began losing power. The port engine rapidly failed entirely. The crew sent distress calls. The pilots attempted to keep the starboard engine running long enough to reach a large lake visible below, but the engine ultimately failed.
Crash Landing
A landing in the trees became inevitable. The aircraft mushed through treetops, bounced off a marsh, and briefly struggled back into the air before its starboard wing struck a small copse of pines. The aircraft slewed around in a violent about-face, leaving the shaken but unhurt crew looking back along the path from which they had come.
Rescue and Investigation
The crew was reached the following day by a rescue float plane. An investigation team arrived soon after to assess the Canso. The leading edge was chopped by trees, the hull was wrinkled, and the propellers were bent. The final ground loop had bent the port wing tip and cracked the spar. The aircraft was written off. Its cockpit was stripped, and it was left to the wilderness.
Aftermath
For almost three decades, the aircraft lay in the bush—its paint fading and its large fabric surfaces slowly deteriorating.