Toronto’s LARGEST AIR DISASTER… Flight 621 "Galaxy" Promotional Items

39 YEARS AGO TODAY… Flight 621 crashed in Castlemore, on July 5, 1970.

As the inside cover of the matches state, "The Galaxy" was Air Canada's unique jet service between Eastern Canada and California. The airplane itself, a DC-8 Stretch, and promotional material carried the theme.

IF YOU WERE one of Flight 621 passengers… these are some of the "Galaxy" promo items on board the ill-fated Stretch DC-8 you would likely have seen.

If you didn't seen the Air Canada Air Route scheduler on board, you would certainly have seen them at the check-in counter. And the Air Canada Galaxy themed matches would have been given out with ashtrays, or would have been on coffee tables, in the small lounge areas that were on the DC-8 itself.

The "Galaxy" theme was spread throughout the aircraft. It was incorporated into the molded ceiling plastic of the Galaxy DC-8s so that when passengers looked up they would almost think they were looking at the stars, the very heavens above. The blue ceiling actually had sparkler bits crafted in, which would "dance" creating a mild optical illusion for the viewer. Silly now, when you think about it. But hey, this was 1970, and the pervasive cultural theme was "anything goes".

To be fair, this similar "galaxy motif" can be found on some of the new Super Jumbo A380s. I mean, I saw some examples that Airbus was considering for the interior design on their new gigantic airplano. These evolved Airbus interior motifs were a little more polished and elaborate, but the idea of "touching the stars" in flight and in the cabin remains a strong one. One, that aircraft producers return to.

One of the very last things that the passengers would have seen, most, if not all, would have been the Second Officer Don Rowland leaving the cockpit and coming into the passenger cabin.

Did he look at the terrified passengers, as he briskly made his way to the one of the passenger's windows? Did he shake his head, or sigh, or swear, when he saw that the starboard wing was now… mostly gone? On his way back to the cockpit, what was he thinking? He knew then, that it was over, that there wasn't any hope.

We do know that when Don got back into the cockpit, he announced that they'd lost a wing.

And almost as if fate was waiting for that announcement, once it was made, and had registered with the airplane's pilot, and navigator… the DC-8 lastly lunged downward. Spiraling now, it could no longer pretend to be an an airplane.

It went straight into the ground at over 400 mph.

Sadly, but indeed mercifully, all 109 passengers and crew died instantly leaving family and friends to mourn their loss from that moment on.

And Flight 621's First Officer, Don Rowland…never made it back to his seat.



Flight 621 In Memorium

Adams, Celine Fradette
Adams, Pierre J
Beaudin, Gaetan
Belanger, Mrs.
Belanger, Jacques
Belanger, Jean
Belanger, Roland
Belanger, Rosanne
Benson, Helen
Benson, Leonard
Benson, Mary
Benson, Richard
Bertrand, Ginette
Boosamra, Lynn
Boulanger, Guy
Bradshaw, Dollie
Cedilot, Robert J
Chapdeleine, Jeannine
Chapdeleine, Joanne
Chapdeleine, Mario
Charent, Jean Maurice
Clarke, Devona Olivia
Cote, Francine
Daoust, Yolande
Desmarais, Brigitte
Desmarais, G
Dicaire, Alice (Marie)
Dicaire, Gilles
Dicaire, Linda
Dicaire, Luke
Dicaire, Mark
Dion, Suzanne
Dore, Jacqueline
Earle, Lewella
Earle, Linda
Filippone, Francesco
Filippone, Linda
Filippone, Marie
Gee, Bernard
Goulet, Denise M
Grenier, Madeleine

Growse, Jane
Growse, Roger
Hamilton, Karen E
Hamilton, Peter Cameron
Herrmann, Ronald Alvin
Hill, Harry Gordon
Holiday, Claude
Houston, Irene Margaret
Houston, Wesley
Jakobsen, Vagn Aage
Labont, Gilles
Leclaire, Marie Rose
Leclaire, Oscar
Leduc, Henri W
Lepage, Claudette
Mailhiot, Claire Gagnon
Mailhiot, Gerald Bernard
Maitz, Gustave
Maitz, Karoline
McKettrick, Winnifred
McTague, John
Medizza, Carla
Mohammed, Dolly
Molino, Antonio
Molino, Michael (Michel)
Moore, Frederick T
Partridge, Andrea
Partridge, Carnie (Carnis) Ann
Partridge, Cyril Wayne
Phillips, Kenneth William
Poirier, Rita
Raymond, Gilles
Raymond, Martial
Robert, Aline
Robert, Georges E
Robidoux, Lionel
Rowland, Donald
Silverberg, Marci
Silverberg, Merle
Silverberg, Steven
Simon, Istvan
Simon, Mark
Smith, Dwight Lee
St. Laurent, Blanche
Stepping, Glenn Thomas
Sultan, Celia
Sultan, Jerald. M
Sultan, Robert. L
Szpakowicz, Borys
Szpakowicz, Serge
Tielens, Carmen
Tielens, Frederick
Tournovits, George
Tournovits, Soula (Athanasia)
Weinberg, Carla
Weinberg, S
Weinberg, Wendy
Whittingham, Jennifer
Whittingham, John
Whittingham, Reginald
Whybro, Mary Baker
Wieczorek, Hildegund
Witmer, Edgar
Wong, Ngar-Quon
Wong, Suzie
Wong, Wong (Mansing)
Woodward, Dallas J

FOR MORE on this UNBELIEVABLE STORY in our day, and age, see:
FLIGHT 621

There SHE is.

The SILVER DART.

100 years later.

Replica.

In Hamilton, Ontario.

YHM.

Yes, safe inside the world famous hangar of the Canadian Warplane Heritage Museum, being disassembled as NWAII looks on, to be crated and sent on to Baddeck Bay, Nova Scotia for its 100th Anniversary celebration flight, a mere two weeks from now on February 23, 2009.

What IS the Silver Dart besides being a “Drive” (road) around the inside perimeter of Toronto’s Pearson International Airport?

From the Canadian Encyclopedia:

“The Silver Dart, was the first powered, heavier-than-air machine to fly in Canada; designed and built by the Aerial Experiment Association (Oct 1907-Mar 1909) under Alexander Graham BELL (yeah…the same Canadian guy who invented the telephone), a flight enthusiast since boyhood.

After several successful flights at Hammondsport, NY, early in 1909 the Silver Dart was dismantled, crated and brought to Baddeck Bay, NS, the Bells' Canadian home. The "aerodrome" (Bell's preferred term) had a 14.9 m wingspan and an all-up weight of 390 kg, pilot included.

J.A.D. MCCURDY was the principal designer and pilot; Glenn H. Curtiss developed the water-cooled engine, an advance on the association's earlier experiments. Pulled on230to the ice of Baddeck Bay by horsedrawn sleigh on Feb 23, the silver-winged machine rose on its second attempt after travelling about 30 m, flying at an elevation from 3 to 9 m at roughly 65 km/hr for 0.8 km.

Over 100 of Bell's neighbours witnessed the first flight of a British subject anywhere in the Empire.

The Silver Dart flew more than 200 times before being damaged beyond repair upon landing in the soft sand of Petawawa, Ont, during military trials in early Aug 1909. The engine was later retrieved and restored and is now on display at the National Museum of Science and Technology in Ottawa. A full-scale model of the Silver Dart may be found in Ottawa's National Aviation Museum.” (Norman Hillmer)

Former Canadian Space Shuttle astronaut Bjarni Tryggvason flew the newest Silver Dart replica, just a few metres above Hamilton runways, on both Friday and Sunday. Incidentally this replica was built by a group of volunteers from Welland Ontario. And one of those volunteers is incidentally related to J.A.D. McCurdy, the Dart’s original pilot!

Another replica of the Silver Dart crashed in 1959 from flight instability originating from the airplane’s nose. The nose of any version of the Silver Dart has a strong tendency to move up and down uncontrollably, and Bjarni Tryggvason has wind-tunnel tested and engineered some changes from the original aircraft’s design to correct this flaw.

Other minor changes were made to the replica aircraft as well.

Nylon has replaced the original Dart’s silver coloured silk, and oddles of HOCKEY TAPE help keep the ancient design together. Where the reader can see stick framing surrounded by black splotches on all the aircraft’s joints, that is, hockey tape doing its thing!

Real Canadians use hockey tape, NOT duct tape, Mr. Green.

Oh and Bjarni and company…do tell the media and public when you decide to fly your beastie!

We really are interested in any Silver Dart flight…if you only give us a chance!!

I had to drive at breakneck speed, avoid two head-on collisions, and ended up mowing down two unsuspecting old ladies on the outskirts of Mount Hope…just to get to the Museum, and for what? You had already flown the Dart.

The disassembly was fascinating to watch though.

One stick at a time–