Whitehorse Star: Five Killed in Air Crash

Arctic & Northern Aviation - Photos and History

    On July 13, 1963, with four RCMP officers and one prisoner on board, a float-equipped de Havilland Canada DHC-2 Beaver, CF-MPO, crashed at Carmacks, Yukon, killing all five occupants.

    The RCMP pilot and three other officers were transferring a prisoner from Mayo to Whitehorse. While approaching Carmacks in good weather conditions, the pilot was making a circuit to land when the airplane rolled over and spun into the ground. It crashed in a bank just below the Mayo Road at a location approximately in between the Territorial Garage and the Carmacks bridge. All five occupants were killed. At the time of the accident, weather conditions were considered as good. Investigations were unable to determine the exact cause of the accident. Nevertheless, it was established that no mechanical failure occurred on the airplane prior to the accident. The pilot was skilled and it is believed that the loss of control may have been caused by local downdrafts or by a stall due to an insufficient speed. Killed in the crash were:

• Sgt. K. Morley Laughland,
• Cpl. Robert William Asbil,
• Cst. Proctor L. A. Malcolm,
• Cst. William J. D. Annand,
• Joseph Phillipe Clement Desormeaux.

    The first two photos below show the memorial cairn at "M" Division headquarters in Whitehorse, the two below that show the memorial cairn near the crash site at Carmacks (photographed in 2015).

Below, the location of the Carmacks memorial can be seen at the lower centre of this aerial photo.