Salute to Kimberley - Page 49
PWA Crash continued from Page 48.
Bodies covered the entire wreckage site and many of the passengers were still strapped in their seats.
The plane was almost indistinguishable. The tail section was separated and off to the southwest of the crash site. Part of the cockpit remained intact.
The pilots were not moved from the cockpit until Sunday morning, because of cold temperatures, the depth of snow and the blackness of the night. RCMP staff inspector Paul Grudniski told reporters late Saturday night that 35 bodies had been recovered from the crash.
Identifications began Saturday night in a temporary morgue set up in a hangar, although next of kin and spectators were being kept out of the crash area by an RCMP road block. Relatives were told to go to the Cranbrook hospital.
A thorough investigation began Sunday morning.
Norman Babin and Bill Kemp, who assisted in rescue operations, told the Townsman late Saturday night of the scene itself.
Babin, who is a Kootenay Airways employee, said he arrived at the crash scene minutes after the plane was down.
Babin and Kemp worked together searching the wreckage and debris for survivors.
Babin said he saw a woman's arm move. "She was still alive," he said.
He told of a man who was out of his seat, lying off to the side of the midsection.
"They were the only survivors we could see."
"We were near the side of the fuselage on the north side of the plane. Sheet metal was piled up against the cockpit. There were five or six bodies behind the metal debris. They were all dead," Kemp said.
"Men working next to us broke in the window of the cockpit and we could see the pilots, later identified as 30-year-old captain Chris Miles and 25-year-old co-pilot Peter Vanoort, up against the instrument panel," Kemp said.
He said "There were flames and explosions all the time we were searching for survivors."
"The tail end was separated and that is where we found the woman. It took us ten to fifteen minutes to get her to an ambulance some 150 yards away on the run-way. Because of deep snow, knee and waist deep in some places, we had to rest every 50 feet. We had the woman on a stretcher," Kemp said.
As rescue operations continued, speculation surrounding the snow sweeper that was on the runway ran rampant through the airport.
Meanwhile, the scene back at the airport terminal, where relatives and friends of passengers were anxiously awaiting neWs of the crash was fairly calm, said two airport workers who were there at the time.
One worker told of a woman with three children who broke the silence a few times by asking,'where's daddy?"
Nobody answered, he said.
Early indications from MOT official Alan jay suggested the pilot tried to abort his landing by applying full power and veering to the left during his ascent, a standard manoeuvre in aborted landings.
Reasons for the presence of a radio-equipped snow sweeper on the runway ten minutes after the expected arrival of the 737's regularly-scheduled flight are not known.
Airport manager, Bill Purdy is responsible for the dispatching of maintenance equipment but he was unavailable to answer questions regarding the sweeper's presence.
Note: For a more complete story on the PWA crash (including conclusions on the cause) see Here.
Next.Salute to Kimberley - Index Page
Front Cover - Inside Front Cover
Page One 1896 - 1910, - Page Two 1900 - 1911, - Page Three 1912 - 1920, - Page Four 1921 - 1924, - Page Five 1925
Page Six 1926, - Page Seven 1927, - Page Eight 1928, - Page Nine 1929, - Page Ten 1930, -
Page Eleven 1930, - Page Twelve 1931/32, - Page Thirteen 1933 - 1936, - Page Fourteen 1937 - 1939, - Page Fifteen 1940, -
Page Sixteen 1941/42, - Page Seventeen 1943, - Page Eighteen 1944/45, - Page Nineteen 1945/46, - Page Twenty 1946/47, -
Page Twentyone 1948, - Page Twentytwo 1948, - Page Twentythree 1949, - Page Twentyfour 1950/51, - Page Twentyfive 1951, -
Page Twentysix 1952, - Page Twentyseven 1953, - Page Twentyeight 1954/55, - Page Twentynine 1955, - Page Thirty 1956/57, -
Page Thirtyone 1957/58, - Page Thirtytwo 1958/59, - Page Thirtythree 1959 - 1961, - Page Thirtyfour 1961/62, - Page Thirtyfive 1962/63, -
Page Thirtysix 1963/64, - Page Thirtyseven 1964 - 1966, - Page Thirtyeight 1967, - Page Thirtynine 1968 - 1970, - Page Forty 1970, -
Page Fortyone 1971, - Page Fortytwo 1972, - Page Fortythree 1973, - Page Fortyfour 1974/75, - Page Fortyfive 1975, -
Page Fortysix 1976, - Page Fortyseven 1976, - Page Fortyeight 1977/78, - Page Fortynine 1978, - Page Fifty 1979/80, -
Page Fiftyone 1981/82, - Page Fiftytwo 1982/83, - Page Fiftythree 1983/84, - Page Fiftyfour 1985, - Page Fiftyfive 1986/87, -
Page Fiftysix 1987/88, - Page Fiftyseven 1988/89, - Page Fiftyeight 1989 - 1991, - Page Fiftynine 1991/92, - Page Sixty 1993/94, -
Page Sixtyone 1995, - Page Sixtytwo 1996/97, - Page Sixtythree 1997/98, - Page Sixtyfour 1998/99, - Back CoverReturn to Keepers Index
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