c/n 1612

CF-BPA on the grass at Ottawa - Uplands.
Photo: Neil Aird © 19 October 1974
CF-BPA parked up.
Photo: Bill Sawchuk © 19 October 1974
CF-BPA departs Maniwaki, Québec.
Photo: Jules Pilon © 1974 - from "For the Love of Flying" by Danielle Metcalfe-Chenail
VH-IDX (2) at Bankstown -YSBK, New South Wales.
Photo: Unknown photographer © 14 November 1977 - David Carter Collection - AustAirData
VH-IDX (2) in the field.
Photo: Tony Arbon © February 1970 - Eddie Coates Collection
VH-IDX looking rather new.
Photo: Mervyn W. Prime © c.1960's - Wim Zwakhals Collection

c/n 1612

VH-IDX (3)

CF-BPA

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VH-IDX (3) Hawker-de Havilland Australia. Delivered 22-Jul-1965.

VH-IDX (3) Superspread Aviation Pty. Ltd., Moorabin, VIC. Regd 01-Dec-1965 Canx 30-Nov-1970.

VH-IDX (3) Aerial Agriculture Pty. Ltd., East Sydney, NSW. Dates unknown.

The following extracts are from Canadian Department of Transport Archives.

Former agricultural aircraft VH-IDX, one of six imported by Alliance Aviation Ltd., Ottawa. VH-IDX had logged 3,296 hours TT of which 1,049 was on agricultural operations. Shipped to Canada with VH-AAS and VH-IDX.

27-Jan-1972 Inspected at Laurentian Air Services, Ottawa, ON., by a Department of Transport Inspector.

10-Feb-1972 Allotment of Registration CF-BPA to DHC-2 msn 1612, Alliance Aviation Ltd., Ottawa, ON.

28-Mar-1972 Temporary Certificate of Registration and Flight Permit for two check flights valid until 28-Apr-1972.

29-Mar-1972 Test flown for Aircraft Inspection Certificate.

29-Mar-1972 Certificate of Airworthiness issued.

14-Apr-1972 Bill of Sale; Aerial Agriculture Pty., Ltd., to Laurentian Air Services Ltd., Ottawa, ON.

14-Apr-1972 Application for Certificate of Registration by Laurentian Air Services Ltd.

21-Apr-1972 Certificate of Registration issued to Laurentian Air Services Ltd., Ottawa, ON.

CF-BPA Laurentian Air Services Ltd., Dorval, QC. Regd Feb-1972. Canx Jan-1976.

Total time since new as recorded in Canadian Department of Transport archives.

09-Mar-1974   4,338 hours

11-May-1974   4,402 hours

06-Sep-1974   4,619 hours

Accident: Lac O’Keefe, QC. 05-Aug-1975. No eye witness to accident as the aircraft arrived at the lake, but It sank in eighty feet of water. The pilot and three passengers were killed. The aircraft was not salvaged.

CF-BPA Cancelled from CCAR 28-Jan-1976.

Note: There is more detail of the demise of CF-BPA in Danielle Metcalfe-Chenail’s “For The Love Of Flying”;

On August 5th, 1975, Laurie Robertson, a young Laurentian pilot, was flying two government conservation officers and another unidentified passenger when the aircraft went down in Lac O’Keefe, QC, just across the border from Labrador. The Beaver had apparently been taking part in a forest fire patrol out of Wabush, Labrador, and according to Jean-Guy Whiteduck, it looked as if the aircraft had stalled. “They found it under 80 feet of water”, he remembers. All four aboard the aircraft died of their injuries, They included Carl George and Gary Noseworthy - only 19 years old at the time of the crash - who worked as forest rangers for the Newfoundland Department of Natural Resources.

Destroyed and removed from register in 1977

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