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Wayne Clarence Adams (1963-1979)
Highlights of History from The Whitehorse Star
The Atlin Cemetery
Born Wayne Clarence Mellott, son of Violet and Clarence Mellott, at Edmonton, Alberta, on February 23, 1963. Clarence Mellott died on June 30, 1968, and Wayne took the name Adams when his mother married Frank Adams in about 1972. Wayne was killed in a plane crash near Atlin on March 21, 1979.
The Whitehorse Star (Whitehorse, Yukon), Thursday, March 22, 1979
ATLIN, B.C. (CP) - Wayne Adams, 16, of Westbank, B.C., was killed Wednesday when a single-engine Beaver aircraft crashed into a mountain range 90 kilometres south of here.
RCMP Corporal John Lawton said the pilot, Richard Bond, 52, of Atlin, was flown to hospital in Whitehorse, about 140 kilometres northwest of here. He was reported in stable condition.
Lawton said the ski plane was returning to Atlin from Tulsequa, an abandoned mining town where salvage operations are taking place, when the crash occured.
Transport ministry officials were investigating the accident.
The Whitehorse Star (Whitehorse, Yukon), Friday, March 30, 1979
By WINNIE ACHESON
Special to the Star
ATLIN (March 27) - A memorial service for Wayne Adams was held at St. Martin's Anglican Church Saturday, March 24, with Bishop John Frame officiating and lay reader Vera Kirkwood giving the eulogy. Wayne, just 16 years old, has lived in Atlin with his parents, Vi and Frank Adams, and two younger brothers, Bradley and Doug, for several years, attending school and becoming active in the gun club, curling, etc.
Last summer the Adams family moved to West Bank, B.C. to live. This spring they returned to Atlin to attend the annual "Fun Days" March 16-18. Vi, Frank,
Brad and Doug left on Monday, March 19 to return home - leaving Wayne here to have a
vacation and visit with his school day friends.
On Wednesday, March 21, Wayne went along on a trip to Tulsequah, B.C. with pilot Richard Bond; and on their return that afternoon the plane crashed about 50 miles south of Atlin, and Wayne lost his life in the accident.
The people of Atlin - everyone - seemed to be in complete shock at the dreadful tragedy and of course thinking at once of the sadness this news would bring to the Adams family who were on their way to West Bank.
Wayne was a fine boy and held very dear by his many friends in Atlin and West Bank. A service was held there at the same hour as the one here, and both were
attended by all who knew Wayne and the family. There will be cremation, with the ashes to be buried in Atlin when the family return next summer. Deepest sympathy is extended to Vi,
Frank, Brad and Doug from all their friends in Atlin.
Pilot Dick Bond is in the Whitehorse hospital surgical ward recovering from injuries received when his plane crashed on March 21. We know that Dick has suffered much physical pain along with mental agony over the loss of his young passenger and
friend. Dick's friends here send "Get well" wishes and hope he will be out of hospital soon.
The Whitehorse Star (Whitehorse, Yukon), Tuesday, June 5, 1979
A 52-year-old Atlin pilot has been charged with six counts of
violating the Aeronautics Act, following a fatal plane crash 90 km south of town earlier this year. If convicted, Richard William Bond faces a maximum $5,000 fine, and six months imprisonment on each count.
Wayne Adams, 16, of Westbank, B.C. was killed when the single-engine Beaver aircraft crashed into a mountainside March 22. Bond, the pilot, was flown to Whitehorse General Hospital, but did not sustain serious injuries. The two had been returning from Tulsequah, an abandoned mining town 130 km south of Atlin, where Bond had
been picking up some freight from a salvage operation being carried out.
The accident occurred the weekend of the Atlin Rendezvous, when the Adams family, long-time residents of Atlin who had las! year moved south to B.C., were up visiting for the occasion.
PLANE NOT EQUIPPED
Bond has been charged with reckless flying, with flying contrary to the visual flight rules and with failing to provide seatbelts. He also faces charges of failing to secure his cargo properly and of not being equipped with adequate emergency equipment. The sixth charge derives from a section in the act which specifies that in a "sparsely populated" area, additional winter equipment must be carried, including
sleeping bags, a tent and snowshoes.
According to Atlin RCMP Corporal Richard Lawion, the dead youth did not have a seat in the aircraft because of the space taken up by an airplane propellor of Bond's, which was being transported back to Atlin.
Bond will appear in court in Atlin June 20.
The Whitehorse Star (Whitehorse, Yukon), Friday, November 9, 1979
In Atlin B.C. yesterday a 52-year-old man was fined a total of $1450 on conviction of four charges under the Aeronautics Act following a flying accident March 22 in which a 16-year-old youth was killed.
After a day-long trial Richard William Bond was found guilty of reckless flying, of failing to provide seatbelts, of not securing his cargo properly and of carrying insufficient winter survival gear. Two other charges of flying contrary to visual flight rules and of being equipped with emergency equipment were dismissed.
The charges were laid after Bond's Beaver aircraft crashed into a mountainside near Atlin, killing Wayne Adams of Westbank B.C. Bond had pleaded not guilty on all counts.
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