Into the Abyss (36 page)

7
“Erik felt pressured to get into his destinations”: In a 1990 Federal Court of Canada judgment, Justice Allison Walsh concluded: “There was considerable evidence to establish that Wapiti Aviation Ltd. exerted considerable pressure on its pilots to induce them to fly in marginal weather conditions, flying under VFR (Visual Flight Rules) at night when weather conditions required that the flights be undertaken under IFR (Instrument Flight Rules) which require a second pilot or at least an auto-pilot in good working condition.” Judgment in Court Action No. T-1637-85 between Sally Margaret Swanson and Her Majesty the Queen, February 6, 1990, 13.

8
“Unfortunately, only one of the plane’s two ADFs was serviceable”: Canadian Aviation Safety Board Civil Aviation Occurrence Report Number 84-H40006,
Wapiti Aviation Ltd. Piper Navajo Chieftain PA-31-350 C-GXUC
, December 18, 1986, 21.

9
“You can remain on this frequency”: D. L. Abbott, ATC tower tape recording, 3.

10
“On that flight, the plane had broken through the clouds 2000 feet above the airport”: Canadian Aviation Safety Board,
Wapiti Aviation Ltd. Inquiry Proceedings, H40006
, Grande Prairie, Alberta, February 26–March 1, 1985, 54.

11
“Dale would ask what altitude he had tried”: Ibid., 128.

12
“I just got the call that Wapiti had room for me”: Larry Shaben interview, October 10, 2004.

13
“I am lucky to be alive”: John Geiger, “Bizarre Omen Before Crash: Notley Killed Elk 2 Months to the Day of His Death,”
Edmonton Sun
, October 22, 1984, 13.

14
“Wapiti four zero two is inbound from the southeast on descent”: Whitecourt Flight Service Station tape transcript, Edmonton Municipal Tower, November 6, 1984, 2.

15
“Why
isn’t the needle swinging?”
: Interview with Erik Vogel, October 21, 2003.

1
“The plane finally came to rest upside down 684 feet from where it had first hit the trees”: Canadian Aviation Safety Board Civil Aviation Occurrence Report Number 84-H40006, 8.

2
“I’m going to die”
: Paul Archambault, “They Called Me a Hero,” unpublished manuscript, 1985, 21.

3
“You dumb, fucking asshole!”: Larry Shaben interview, October 10, 2004.

4
“One end was wet, so he tore it off”: Archambault, “They Called Me a Hero,” 34.

Epigraph: Leonardo Da Vinci,
Codex Forster III, 66v
.

1
“if you survived a summer at La Ronge, then you must be okay”: Author correspondence with Vogel, September 20, 2007.

2
“Bush pilots have the highest mortality rate of any commercial pilots”: CNN Money, “America’s Most Dangerous Jobs,” August 26, 2011,
http://money.cnn.com/galleries/2011/pf/jobs/1108/​gallery.dangerous_jobs/4.html
.

3
“Tell him to go away”: Vogel interview, November 8, 2011.

4
“we’d never stay in business”: Ted Grant recalls his former partner, Paul Jones—a long-time bush pilot—expressing similar sentiments. Interview with Ted Grant, June 21, 2012.

1
“Dale Wells would get in the airplane and make him do the flight again”: The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation,
the fifth estate
, 1985–1986, episode 20: “Dead Reckoning.”

2
“Fourteen pilots had quit or been fired from the airline in the previous six months”: Judgment in Court Action No. T-1637-85 between Sally Margaret Swanson and Her Majesty the Queen, February 6, 1990, 15.

3
“failed to conduct the mandatory airworthiness inspections”: Transport Canada notices of aircraft conditions for Wapiti Aviation Ltd., October 2, 1984. Courtesy of Dale Wells.

4
“It didn’t strike me as a place I wanted to stay a long time”: Canadian Aviation Safety Board,
Wapiti Aviation Ltd. Inquiry Proceedings, H40006
, 141–42.

5
“take this flight or you won’t be taking any”: Judgment in Court Action No. T-1637-85 between Sally Margaret Swanson and Her Majesty the Queen, February 6, 1990, 15.

6
“I’ve got a flight to McMurray and I really could use a co-pilot”: Vogel interview, October 21, 2003.

7
“pilots who broke the rules”: Department of Transport telephone record of discussion between Jim Powell and Dave McCracken, October 15, 1984. Courtesy of Dale Wells.

8
“engaged the autopilot on his plane and it responded erratically”: Vogel interview, October 21, 2003.

9
“practice of terminating pilots before their ninetieth day of employment to avoid having to provide two weeks’ notice and holiday pay”: Judgment in Court Action No. T-1637-85 between Sally Margaret Swanson and Her Majesty the Queen, February 6, 1990, 14.

10
“Pretty ugly icing up there”: Vogel interview, October 21, 2003.

11
“I barely made it off”: Vogel interview, May 12, 2009.

12
“Ceiling 1,000 ft broken, 2,000 ft overcast”
: Canadian Aviation Safety Board Civil Aviation Occurrence Report Number 84-H40006, 5.

13
“support be given to Wapiti Aviation, for the establishment of a regularly scheduled air service, whereby the Carrier could overfly localities in the event that there was no confirmed traffic”: Minutes of a meeting held at the Town of Fairview Provincial Building to discuss the feasibility of establishing a scheduled air service from Grande Prairie to Edmonton via Fairview–Peace River–High Prairie–Slave Lake, March 2, 1982. Courtesy of Dale Wells.

14
“I am in complete support of the entire concept”: Larry Shaben, Alberta Minister of Utilities and Telephones, correspondence with Ike Lawrence, chairman, High Prairie Airport Commission, April 1, 1982. Courtesy of Dale Wells.

15
“RCMP had written Dale a letter alleging violations of regulations”: Royal Canadian Mounted Police, Memorandum 1413-83, February 1, 1983. Courtesy of Dale Wells.

16
“This nonsense has got to stop”: Carol Picard, “Pilot Admits Flight Unsafe,”
Edmonton Sun
, December 17, 1985.

Epigraph: “Dark Night of the Soul” by Saint John of the Cross: A. Z. Foreman, “Poems Found in Translation,”
http://poemsintranslation.blogspot.com
.

2
“There was a long, ear-splitting
grrrrrrrr”
: “Terrible Crack Signaled Disaster,”
Calgary Herald
, October 22, 1984.

3
“The world around him was a mixture of muted white and dim shadow”: Scott Deschamps, “Once Upon an Angel: The Story of Flight 418,” Simon Fraser University, Master of Arts in Liberal Studies essay, 2009, 1.

2
“Why can’t I find the windows?”
: Vogel interview, October 21, 2003.

3
“I have to get out of here now. I can’t breathe!”: Canadian Aviation Safety Board,
Wapiti Aviation Ltd. Inquiry Proceedings, H40006
, 229.

4
“The person’s jaw was crushed. It felt to Paul like mush or rubber”: Archambault, “They Called Me a Hero,” 23.

1
“It seemed to Paul that Larry and Erik had no mind or that they were really dazed”: Archambault, “They Called Me a Hero,” 25.

2
“I’m happy you’re here”: Ibid., 26.

3
“Where’s your friend?”: Vogel interview, October 21, 2003.

4
“Paul moved around touching everyone he could, but they were all dead.”: Archambault, “They Called Me a Hero,” 26.

5
“His right arm was stuffed into the pilot’s flight bag”: Ibid.

1
“Over the past few days the weather had truly been a concern”: Luella Wood, personal diary, October 21, 1984.

2
“Edie, anybody call?”: Interview with Luella Wood, July 20, 2011.

3
“She couldn’t explain it, but things just didn’t seem right”: Wood diary, October 21, 1984. Wood later noted that there was “hardly a Wapiti pilot who came through High Prairie who wasn’t worried” when it came to mechanical issues or a potential accident: Wood interview, June 25, 2012.

4
“Pacific Western Airlines Flight 594”: Canadian Aviation Safety Board Civil Aviation Occurrence Report Number 84-H40006, 9.

5
“It can’t be”: Wells interview, December 22, 2007.

6
“RCMP is here and the military has launched a search”: Wood diary, October 21, 1984.

7
“find out if any other government members from the north are on that plane”: Interview with Bob Giffin, June 2, 2011.

8
“Grant had stayed over in Edmonton because the Wapiti flight had been fully booked”: Ibid.

9
“Grant had caught a flight out of Edmonton”: Peter Stockland, “Notley Kids Broke News,”
Edmonton Sun
, October 22, 1984.

10
“Del had not wanted to get on a plane since”: Wells interview, December 22, 2007.

11
“had demonstrated strong airmanship, the ability to think on his feet, and a good awareness of what was going on around him”: Canadian Aviation Safety Board,
Wapiti Aviation Ltd. Inquiry Proceedings, H40006
, 315.

12
“During passenger check-in Dale had briefly considered taking the flight himself”: Wells interview, December 22, 2007.

13
“prima donna pilots who’d come and gone over the years”: Ibid.

14
“They wanted everything handed to them on a platter”: Ibid.

15
“I’m in the vicinity and I’m going to try to locate the ELT signal”: Wood diary, October 21, 1984.

16
“All hell’s breaking loose”: Interview with Marvin Hopkins, June 14, 2011.

17
“Don’t crash”
: Interview with Dave Heggie, June 13, 2011.

1
“He’d diagnosed his own condition as a flail chest”: Deschamps interview, December 5, 2007.

2
“there are four chocolate chip cookies in that bag”: Vogel interview, October 21, 2003.

3
“He’s going to kill me for crashing the plane”
: Ibid.

4
“we’re not leaving you. Rescue is coming soon”: Archambault, “They Called Me a Hero,” 27.

5
“Does the government consider there is, if not a legal obligation, a moral obligation for restitution?”: Alberta Hansard, Legislative Assembly of Alberta, October 19, 1984, 1219.

6
“I could tell he was hurting physically and emotionally”: Larry Shaben interview, October 10, 2004.

1
“ceiling of zero feet and one-eighth of a mile visibility”: Search and Rescue Mission Report 8400448, SAR Vogel, October 19–20, 1984. Obtained through Access to Information Request A-2011-00242, Library and Archives Canada.

2
“Paul commented on how beautiful they were, busted up and covered in blood”: Archambault, “They Called Me a Hero,” 27.

3
“Any time you can walk away from an airplane, you’re lucky”: Peter Stockland, “Shaben Describes Nightmare,”
Edmonton Sun
, October 23, 1984.

4
“the signal was weak and distorted, often fading in and out as if obscured by something unseen below”: Rescuers later discovered that the cause was the plane’s upturned position, which had partially buried the ELT antennae in the snow.

5
“he was sure it had been the man’s soul leaving his body”: Interview with Daniel Archambault, April 1, 2009.

6
“Airport ’77”
: Archambault, “They Called Me a Hero,” 11.

7
“What kind of chance would I have to become a cop?”: Ibid., 14.

8
“they’d turned him down because he had only one kidney”: Daniel Archambault interview, April 1, 2009.

1
“We’re outta here”: Vogel interview, October 21, 2003.

2
“Why would they drop it over there?”
: Ibid.

3
“ ‘Is it on?’ Paul asked, a note of sarcasm in his voice”: Deschamps, “Once Upon an Angel,” 5.

4
“decided to shut down the faltering No. 2 engine to conserve fuel”: Interview with Everett Hale, June 10, 2011.

1
“It’s too quiet … I don’t like it”: Deschamps, “Once Upon an Angel,” 6.

2
“If it’s not working, we’ll try to fix it”: Archambault, “They Called Me a Hero,” 33.

3
“Watch out where the huskies go, and don’t you eat that yellow snow”: Frank Zappa, “Don’t Eat the Yellow Snow,” © 1974 Munchkin Music. Grateful acknowledgement is made to Gail Zappa and the Zappa Family Trust.

4
“loss of situational awareness is responsible for up to 15 percent of fatal crashes”: Richard Leland, “Night VFR: An Oxymoron?”
Journal of Aviation/Aerospace Education and Research
, Vol. 9, No. 1 (Fall 1999), 13–15, Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University.

5
“Fatigue is by far the most common physiological factor contributing to aviation mishaps”: Ibid.

6
“I’m going to pass out”: Archambault, “They Called Me a Hero,” 34.

7
“The little bugger’s a chain-smoker”
: Larry Shaben interview, October 10, 2004.

8
“a B and E occurred and $10,000 was stolen from the club”: Jack Aubry, “Quebec Court Gives Hero Probation for Break and Enter,”
Ottawa Citizen
, January 9, 1985.

9
“turned down the idles on every cop car that came in for repair”: Daniel Archambault interview, April 1, 2009.

10
“Paul was locked up inside a windowless concrete room where he slept on the floor”: Archambault, “They Called Me a Hero,” 4.

11
“I’m a human being just like you”: Ibid.