Trans-Canada Air Lines Flight 831
Encyclopedia
Trans-Canada Air Lines
(TCA) Flight 831 was a flight from Montreal-Dorval Airport
(now Montréal/Trudeau) to Toronto International Airport
(now Toronto-Pearson) on November 29, 1963. The aircraft was a four-engine Douglas DC-8-54CF airliner, registered CF-TJN. About five minutes after takeoff in poor weather, the jet crashed about 20 miles (32.2 km) north of Montreal
, near Ste-Thérèse-de-Blainville
, Quebec
, Canada
, killing all 118 people on board: 111 passengers and 7 crew members. The crash was the worst in Canadian history at that time.
The aircraft had plunged into a soggy field, about 100 metres from the main highway
leading to the Laurentian Mountains
. One witness said she had seen what looked like "a long red streak in the sky" just before the crash. The red-trimmed, silver jet dug a crater 6 feet (1.8 m) deep and 150 feet (45.7 m) wide in the ground that soon began to fill with rainwater. Rescue parties were hampered by deep mud around the wreckage, and by a fuel-fed fire that lasted for hours despite heavy rain. Although parts of the plane were scattered over a wide area, the craft broke into two main sections when it struck the ground. The site of the crash was a flat field away from houses in the town of 12,000 people. The main sections of the wreckage lay about halfway between Highway 11, now Quebec Route 117
, and the Laurentian Autoroute
.
, another DC-8, three months later in 1964. Other possible causes were put forward that could not be ruled out: 1) Icing
of the pitot
system; and 2) Failure of the vertical gyro
.
-area, while only three victims were foreign nationals: two from the United States of America, and one from India. A TCA official was quoted as saying that "the bodies were so badly smashed that identification was virtually hopeless." The plane's flight crew included World War II bomber pilot Captain John (Jack) D. Snider, 47 years old, the pilot, of Toronto; First Officer Harry J. Dyck, 35, of Leamington, Ontario; and Second Officer Edward D. Baxter, 29, of Toronto.
Among those on the flight were Donald Hudson, a television producer for the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation
(CBC), Toronto police officers Sergeant John Bassett and Detective Kenneth Evans, and Donald Turnbull, son of inventor Wallace Rupert Turnbull
. Also killed was Charles Stone of Montreal, a former co-owner of the Canadian Football League's (CFL) Montreal Alouettes
; his death occurred during the CFL's Grey Cup
week in Vancouver. The casualty count could have been higher; car traffic congestion on Montreal's main expressway caused twelve people to miss this flight. The traffic congestion, which extended all the way into the downtown core, also delayed emergency vehicles from getting to the crash-site.
TCA was the predecessor to Air Canada
, and created a memorial garden near the site of the crash. The memorial is located at the Cimetière de Sainte-Thérèse. The crash site is now within a present-day developed residential neighborhood.
Though it is customary for airlines to retire a flight number after a major incident, Air Canada continues to use the number 831 for the same route. Flight 831 originates in Geneva and terminates in Toronto with a stopover in Montreal.
Trans-Canada Air Lines
Trans-Canada Air Lines was a Canadian airline and operated as the country's flag carrier. Its corporate headquarters were in Montreal, Quebec...
(TCA) Flight 831 was a flight from Montreal-Dorval Airport
Montréal-Pierre Elliott Trudeau International Airport
Montréal-Pierre Elliott Trudeau International Airport or Montréal-Trudeau, formerly known as Montréal-Dorval International Airport, is located on the Island of Montreal, from Montreal's downtown core. The airport terminals are located entirely in Dorval, while the Air Canada headquarters complex...
(now Montréal/Trudeau) to Toronto International Airport
Toronto Pearson International Airport
Toronto Pearson International Airport is an international airport serving Toronto, Ontario, Canada; its metropolitan area; and the Golden Horseshoe, an urban agglomeration that is home to 8.1 million people – approximately 25% of Canada's population...
(now Toronto-Pearson) on November 29, 1963. The aircraft was a four-engine Douglas DC-8-54CF airliner, registered CF-TJN. About five minutes after takeoff in poor weather, the jet crashed about 20 miles (32.2 km) north of Montreal
Montreal
Montreal is a city in Canada. It is the largest city in the province of Quebec, the second-largest city in Canada and the seventh largest in North America...
, near Ste-Thérèse-de-Blainville
Sainte-Thérèse, Quebec
Sainte-Thérèse is an off-island suburb northwest of Montreal, in southwestern Quebec, Canada, in the Regional County Municipality of Thérèse-de-Blainville....
, Quebec
Quebec
Quebec or is a province in east-central Canada. It is the only Canadian province with a predominantly French-speaking population and the only one whose sole official language is French at the provincial level....
, Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
, killing all 118 people on board: 111 passengers and 7 crew members. The crash was the worst in Canadian history at that time.
Sequence of events
At 6:28 P.M., the DC-8 began its takeoff roll on runway 06. The crew reported back when they reached 3000 feet (914.4 m) and were given clearance for a left turn. It was shortly after the clearance was given that the aircraft deviated from its expected flight path, and began a quick descent. At about 6:33 P.M. the jet struck the ground at an estimated 470 – while descending at about a 55-degree angle (± 7 degrees).The aircraft had plunged into a soggy field, about 100 metres from the main highway
Quebec Autoroute 15
Autoroute 15 is a highway in western Quebec, Canada...
leading to the Laurentian Mountains
Laurentian mountains
The Laurentian Mountains are a mountain range in southern Quebec, Canada, north of the St. Lawrence River and Ottawa River, rising to a highest point of 1166 metres at Mont Raoul Blanchard, north east of Quebec City in the Reserve Faunique des Laurentides. The Gatineau, L'Assomption, Lièvre,...
. One witness said she had seen what looked like "a long red streak in the sky" just before the crash. The red-trimmed, silver jet dug a crater 6 feet (1.8 m) deep and 150 feet (45.7 m) wide in the ground that soon began to fill with rainwater. Rescue parties were hampered by deep mud around the wreckage, and by a fuel-fed fire that lasted for hours despite heavy rain. Although parts of the plane were scattered over a wide area, the craft broke into two main sections when it struck the ground. The site of the crash was a flat field away from houses in the town of 12,000 people. The main sections of the wreckage lay about halfway between Highway 11, now Quebec Route 117
Quebec route 117
Route 117 is a provincial highway within the Canadian province of Quebec, running between Montreal and the Quebec/Ontario border where it continues as Highway 66 east of Kearns, Ontario...
, and the Laurentian Autoroute
Quebec Autoroute 15
Autoroute 15 is a highway in western Quebec, Canada...
.
Investigation
The plane was too badly damaged to determine a definite cause. The official report released in 1965 pointed to problems in the jet's pitch trim system (the device that maintains a set nose-up or -down attitude) as a possibility, since a pitch trim problem caused the similar crash of Eastern Air Lines Flight 304Eastern Air Lines Flight 304
Eastern Air Lines Flight 304 was a Douglas DC-8 flying from New Orleans International Airport to Washington Dulles International Airport that crashed on February 25, 1964. All 51 passengers and 7 crew were killed...
, another DC-8, three months later in 1964. Other possible causes were put forward that could not be ruled out: 1) Icing
Atmospheric icing
Atmospheric icing occurs when water droplets in the atmosphere freeze on objects they contact. This can be extremely dangerous to aircraft, as the built-up ice changes the aerodynamics of the flight surfaces, which can increase the risk of a subsequent stalling of the airfoil...
of the pitot
Pitot-static system
A pitot-static system is a system of pressure-sensitive instruments that is most often used in aviation to determine an aircraft's airspeed, Mach number, altitude, and altitude trend. A pitot-static system generally consists of a pitot tube, a static port, and the pitot-static instruments...
system; and 2) Failure of the vertical gyro
Gyroscope
A gyroscope is a device for measuring or maintaining orientation, based on the principles of angular momentum. In essence, a mechanical gyroscope is a spinning wheel or disk whose axle is free to take any orientation...
.
Notable victims
76 victims were from the Metropolitan TorontoMetropolitan Toronto
The Municipality of Metropolitan Toronto was a senior level of municipal government in the Toronto, Ontario, Canada area from 1954 to 1998. It was created out of York County and was a precursor to the later concept of a regional municipality, being formed of smaller municipalities but having more...
-area, while only three victims were foreign nationals: two from the United States of America, and one from India. A TCA official was quoted as saying that "the bodies were so badly smashed that identification was virtually hopeless." The plane's flight crew included World War II bomber pilot Captain John (Jack) D. Snider, 47 years old, the pilot, of Toronto; First Officer Harry J. Dyck, 35, of Leamington, Ontario; and Second Officer Edward D. Baxter, 29, of Toronto.
Among those on the flight were Donald Hudson, a television producer for the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation
Canadian Broadcasting Corporation
The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, commonly known as CBC and officially as CBC/Radio-Canada, is a Canadian crown corporation that serves as the national public radio and television broadcaster...
(CBC), Toronto police officers Sergeant John Bassett and Detective Kenneth Evans, and Donald Turnbull, son of inventor Wallace Rupert Turnbull
Wallace Rupert Turnbull
Wallace Rupert Turnbull was a New Brunswick engineer and inventor, born on October 16, 1870 in Saint John, NB. The Saint John Airport was briefly named after him. He died November 24, 1954...
. Also killed was Charles Stone of Montreal, a former co-owner of the Canadian Football League's (CFL) Montreal Alouettes
Montreal Alouettes
The Montreal Alouettes are a Canadian Football League team based in Montreal, Quebec.The current franchise named the Alouettes moved to Montreal from Baltimore, Maryland, in 1996 where they had been known as the Baltimore Stallions...
; his death occurred during the CFL's Grey Cup
Grey Cup
The Grey Cup is both the name of the championship of the Canadian Football League and the name of the trophy awarded to the victorious team. It is Canada's largest annual sports and television event, regularly drawing a Canadian viewing audience of about 3 to 4 million individuals...
week in Vancouver. The casualty count could have been higher; car traffic congestion on Montreal's main expressway caused twelve people to miss this flight. The traffic congestion, which extended all the way into the downtown core, also delayed emergency vehicles from getting to the crash-site.
TCA was the predecessor to Air Canada
Air Canada
Air Canada is the flag carrier and largest airline of Canada. The airline, founded in 1936, provides scheduled and charter air transport for passengers and cargo to 178 destinations worldwide. It is the world's tenth largest passenger airline by number of destinations, and the airline is a...
, and created a memorial garden near the site of the crash. The memorial is located at the Cimetière de Sainte-Thérèse. The crash site is now within a present-day developed residential neighborhood.
Though it is customary for airlines to retire a flight number after a major incident, Air Canada continues to use the number 831 for the same route. Flight 831 originates in Geneva and terminates in Toronto with a stopover in Montreal.
External links
- Photo of CF-TJN at airliners.net, taken a few months before the crash.
- List of victims Period TV coverage (WMP) - Includes aerial views of the crash site and a look at the accident reconstruction. 40th anniversary TV coverage (WMP)