ASN Wikibase Occurrence # 1202
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| Date: | Friday 17 August 1934 |
| Time: | c. 19:30 LT |
| Type: |  de Havilland DH.60X Moth |
| Owner/operator: | George O Mackie |
| Registration: | G-CAJZ |
| MSN: | 620 |
| Fatalities: | Fatalities: 2 / Occupants: 2 |
| Aircraft damage: | Destroyed |
| Location: | Mink Point, Lake Winnipeg, Manitoba -
 Canada
|
| Phase: | Landing |
| Nature: | Private |
| Departure airport: | Red River, Winnipeg, Manitoba |
| Lake Winnipeg, Manitoba |
c/no. 620: DH.60X Moth Seaplane [Cirrus II] to DH Canada with C of A 1446 issued 11.6.28. Registered G-CAJZ [C of R 439] 4.7.28 to John Bailes & Sons Ltd, Toronto [based Cold Lake, Manitoba]. Registered early 1930 to Dominion Explorers Ltd.
Sold 23.4.30 (but not re-registered) to Northwest Aero Marine Ltd, Winnipeg. Re-registered 22.5.30 to E S Hough, Winnipeg. Re-registered [C of R 1110] 1.4.32 to R.A Joberty & D B Lindsay, St Boniface, Manitoba. Re-registered 9.7.32 to R. A. Joberty & C.T. Kaake, St Boniface. Re-registered [C of R 1233] 29.12.32 to D E Orchard, Winnipeg.
Re-registered [C of R 1252] 2.3.33 to G Scarr, Winnipeg. Re-registered [C of R 1358] 14.12.33 to George O Mackie, Winnipeg.
Written off (destroyed) 17.8.34: While landing on Lake Winnipeg, the single engine aircraft went out of control, overturned and came to rest at Mink Point. The pilot and owner George O'Mackie and the passenger L. Blackwell were killed. According to a newspaper report (Winnipeg Free Press Sunday, May. 24, 2015 - see link #1):
"The plane's final, fatal takeoff took place on the evening of April 17, 1934.
Word came in that the previous day, another Northwest Aero Marine plane - piloted by Charlie Scarr and carrying a Toledo Scales salesman - was forced down on its return flight from the mine because of mechanical difficulties. As they were on a well-travelled route, the pair was spotted by other pilots on the eastern shore of Lake Winnipeg at the Sandy River the next day. They were safe, but Northwest Aero Marine needed to send in a seaplane and an engineer to repair the plane or evacuate the stranded men.
George Mackie and Len Blackwell volunteered to fly out to rescue Scarr, who coincidentally was the previous owner of Mackie's plane. They headed for Northwest Aero Marine's base on the Red River, where the float planes were kept, and took off around 7 p.m. What they didn't know was there was a violent storm sweeping over Lake Winnipeg that night.
The men never reached their destination. After a couple of days with no reported sightings of their downed plane or a signal fire, company officials feared the worse. A general call for help went out, and soon planes from other airlines, mining companies, the RCAF and the Provincial Air Service were on the lookout. More planes and a number of boats were dispatched from Lac du Bonnet, where NAM had another base.
Pilot C.T. Travers of the Manitoba Government Air Service was searching the eastern shore of Lake Winnipeg on Aug. 25 when he spotted the wreckage of a plane near the Black River. He landed and made it to the site at a place called Mink Point. He confirmed it was G-CAJZ, broken in two and missing its propeller. Nearby in the brush were the bodies of Mackie and Blackwell.
At the coroner's inquest in Pine Falls, he testified the cause of death was drowning, as the bodies showed no sign of trauma or broken bones. There were no life-preservers found on the bodies or in the wreckage. Though it was a government regulation and the devices were available to them at NAM's Red River base, it is unclear why they didn't take them along.
Other testimony revealed Mackie had only landed his plane on its pontoons two or three times before. Factor in the bad weather, a night landing and the likelihood the plane may have been overweight because of the large amount of fuel it was carrying for the stricken plane, and it's easy to see how such a tragedy could have occurred.
At a subsequent government inquiry, the bad weather was officially blamed for the crash, though the report was cautiously critical of the men for being overzealous and overreaching their abilities in an attempt to rescue a fellow airman.
A joint funeral was held for Mackie and Blackwell at St. James United Church on Aug. 28, 1934. Pallbearers were members of the Winnipeg Flying Club and co-workers from Northwest Aero Marine.
After the service, the cortège made its way to Elmwood Cemetery, followed overhead by a single plane. During the service, the plane circled the cemetery and dropped a single wreath of flowers before heading back to Stevenson Field."
Registration G-CAJZ cancelled 24.8.34.
Sources:
1. Winnipeg Free Press Sunday, May 24, 2015: https://www.winnipegfreepress.com/local/daring-sflbdisaster-304843781.html
2. Winnipeg Free Press August 17 1934 p 6: https://newspaperarchive.com/winnipeg-free-press-aug-17-1934-p-6/
3. http://www.ab-ix.com/dh60.pdf
4. http://www.airhistory.org.uk/gy/reg_G-C.html
5. https://www.baaa-acro.com/crash/crash-de-havilland-dh60x-moth-winnipeg-lake-2-killed
6. http://www.airhistory.org.uk/dh/p006.html
7. https://www.afleetingpeace.org/index.php/page-canada-register/g-ca?highlight=WyJnLWNhanoiXQ==
8. https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/122855017/george-o-mackie
9. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lake_Winnipeg
Location
Revision history:
| Date/time | Contributor | Updates |
|---|---|---|
| 30-Jan-2008 02:33 | JINX | Added |
| 21-Mar-2013 13:49 | Dr. John Smith | Updated [Operator, Total fatalities, Total occupants, Other fatalities, Nature, Departure airport, Source, Narrative] |
| 24-Aug-2017 14:29 | Dr. John Smith | Updated [Time, Location, Departure airport, Destination airport, Source, Narrative] |
| 25-Aug-2017 13:30 | Dr. John Smith | Updated [Location] |
| 16-Oct-2020 09:10 | Sergey L. | Updated [Source] |
| 07-Nov-2023 08:10 | Dr. John Smith | Updated [Time, Departure airport, Source, Narrative, Category] |
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