Incident Overview
Date: Tuesday 14 February 1956
Aircraft Type: de Havilland Canada U-1A Otter (DHC-3)
Owner/operator: United States Army
Registration Number: 55-3252
Location: Toronto, ON –
ÿ Canada
Phase of Flight: En route
Status: Destroyed, written off
Casualties: Fatalities: 4 / Occupants: 4
Component Affected: U-1A Otter aircraftU-1A Otter aircraft
Category: Accident
A group of three U-1A Otter reconnaissance aircraft were involved in a catastrophic mid-air crash near Keele Street, resulting in the loss of all aboard. The aircraft departed from Downsview Airport shortly before the incident, and subsequent investigations pointed to wake turbulence as the primary cause of the breakup.A group of three U-1A Otter reconnaissance aircraft were involved in a catastrophic mid-air crash near Keele Street, resulting in the loss of all aboard. The aircraft departed from Downsview Airport shortly before the incident, and subsequent investigations pointed to wake turbulence as the primary cause of the breakup.
Description
A group of three U-1A Otters were allocated for training flights out of the Downsview Airport, in the course of pre-delivery U.S. Army pilot training. Otter 55-3252 departed the airport at 15:21. Seventeen minutes later the aircraft broke up in midair. It crashed near Keele Street, killing all aboard. Initial investigations concluded that the airplane broke up after entering wake turbulence. Investigation into the accident of RCAF Otter 3666 which crashed April 10 of the same year revealed that the this accident may have been preceded by a sudden spontaneous full flap retraction.
Primary Cause
Wake turbulenceWake turbulenceShare on:
