The Columbia Valley Pioneer • 19
February 15, 2008
reported traffic. Flight 314: OK. We check - two nine seven six. Mr. Hanover: And three one four. The - er - sweeper His brother Leonard found him in the bush to on the runway - er - has been for some time trying to deliver news of the birth of their son Allen. keep the snow back for you. I’ll let you know what it’s like She said he was sure it would be another girl. as soon as I get a progress from him. And the visibility “But then it dawned on him that Lenny wouldn’t not much change in the weather - maybe visibility about have come all that way to deliver news of another girl,” three quarters of a mile in snow. she said. Flight 314: Three fourteen checks. The next day she got a bouquet of pink roses and It was the last transmission from Flight 314. card with a one-word message. Both Mr. Hanover and Mr. George expected the “Thanks!” flight would report by the “Skookum Beacon,” At age 36, she said, Lloyd was beginning to 28 miles north of the airport, on a straight-in achieve some success. He was preparing a mine approach to runway 16, thus giving the ploughfor the stock exchange and thoughts turned to man about seven minutes to get off the rundomestic issues. way. Just two weeks before the crash, the couple At 12:55 p.m., ten minutes before the estienjoyed their first vacation since their honeymated time of arrival, Flight 314 touched down moon, a trip to Hawaii. in Cranbrook and the thrust reversers were de“We made the decision to spend more time ployed. A thrust reverser is an air scoop that as a family,” Jacquie remembered. deploys behind a jet engine that redirects the On February 11, 1978, Lloyd was returnthrust forward, instead of aft, to slow an aircraft ing from a meeting with MLA Jim Chabot and after touchdown and reduce wear on the brakes. members of Premier W. R. Bennett’s cabinet in Suddenly, the crash report noted, the crew of Victoria. 314 noticed the snow plough still on the run“Normally, he did not fly into Cranbrook,” way and a go-around, a touch-and-go landing, Jacquie explained. was immediately initiated. However, while he was away, he had a new Twelve hundred feet after touching down, set of tires installed on the truck he left in Calthe aircraft became airborne again and flew over gary. He began the drive back to Windermere, the snow plough at a height of 60 to 70 feet. but found the truck handling poorly on the The perfect storm of problems began to highway. reach a critical mass. After the miscalculation of “He called home and said he thought maybe the estimated time of arrival, the adverse weaththe mechanics made a mistake,” Jacquie recalled. er conditions, the communication breakdown, “He said the truck was ‘floating.’” and the inexperienced crew, a mechanical failSo he decided to fly back instead. ure developed. The left thrust reverser failed to Pacific Western Airlines Flight 314, a Boeing re-stow after the go-around was initiated. 737, was a scheduled service from Edmonton to The aircraft, with 49 souls on board, climbed Castlegar with stops at Calgary and Cranbrook. EVER REMEMBERED—Jacquie Brown holds a photo of the couple The flight departed Calgary at half past noon taken on a trip to Hawaii, two weeks before Lloyd died in the crash of to 300-400 feet, banked steeply to the left, lost and was due into Cranbrook at 1:05 p.m. PWA Flight 314. Photo by Brian Geis height and nosed steeply into the metre-deep snow on the side of the runway. Jacquie said she and the kids were excited Flight 314: We’re gonna crash According to the official accident report, the first to see Lloyd, and his return from a business trip was Mr. George: Where the hell did he come from? always a family affair with the extended family show- mistake was a miscalculation of Flight 314’s estimated Mr. Hanover: I don’t know, Terry, but he sure didn’t ing up to take greet him. “That’s what we did, as a time of arrival by air traffic controllers in Calgary. Once the flight was underway, Calgary reported call after his first call. family.” Aeradio Landline: Cranbrook radio, Calgary. At the time, Jacquie served on the board of the to Cranbrook Aeradio operator Ernie Hanover an Mr. Hanover: Cranbrook. East Kootenay Community College and made plans ETA of 13:05. Aeradio Landline: I’ve got an inbound for you. Because of the snow, truck driver Terry George to attend the grand opening she helped organize that Mr. Hanover: Standby a second please, I got an was ploughing the runway in preparation of Flight afternoon. emergency. Afterward, she was going straight to the arena to 314’s arrival. Aeradio Landline: Oh. OK. Mr. Hanover relayed the estimated time of arrival watch Kari perform in a skating event. Aeradio Landline: Cranbrook radio, Calgary, are Lloyd’s brother Johnny Hemmelgarn and Wilfred to Mr. George, alerting him of the incoming aircraft. At 12:46, Cranbrook Aeradio was contacted by you still busy? Larrabee volunteered to pick him up at the airport. Mr. Hanover: Aoah, OK go ahead now Calgary. “I put a roast on time-bake and dropped the kids Flight 314 at which time Mr. Hanover radioed back Aeradio Landline: OK, first off, where’s P.W. three to the flight crew, junior pilot Chris Miles, 30, and his off at my parents,” she said. Norm Babin of Windermere, the owner of Babin 26-year-old copilot Peter Vanoort, that snow removal thirty, three fourteen now, have you any idea? Mr. Hanover: Yeah, he’s the emergency. He’s crashed Airlines in Invermere, was a 30-year-old pilot for was in progress. Flight 314: Cranbrook Radio. Pacific Western Flight and is burning off the end of the runway. Kootenay Airways, based in Cranbrook. Mr. Babin, who was snowmobiling with his son in Mr. Babin, who got his start as a bush pilot in Sas- three one four-er-your frequency. Mr. Hanover: Three one four, Cranbrook, go ahead. the back yard, saw the fireball. katchewan back in 1967, flew in and out of Cranbrook “I saw a red flash through the snow,” he said. Flight 314: Yes, sir. We have the approach. You can from 1971 to 1990. “There were basically three of us that got there at the Cranbrook, he said, is a great airport, sitting up go ahead with your numbers. Mr. Hanover: OK - I’ll give you the numbers - the same time.” on a bench with a 28-mile approach. “It’s the best IFR (instrument flight rules) airport between Vancouver wind at one five zero degrees magnetic at six Cranbrook Continued on next page... altimeter two nine - two nine seven six and there’s no and Calgary, no questions,” he said. Continued from last page...
“We lived adjacent to the airport,” he recalled. “On a clear day, you could see the airport from our house.” However, nearly a metre of snow had fallen on Cranbrook that day. It had been snowing all morning and visibility was reduced three-quarters of a mile. The weather, Mr. Babin explained, was one problem in a perfect storm of problems that led to the tragedy that transpired that day, chief among them, a communication breakdown.