A plane crash near 100 Mile House almost half a century ago is one of Canada’s greatest aviation mysteries.
Police suspect a bomb blew up the Canadian Pacific Airlines flight in the summer of 1965, but no one has ever been charged.
52 people lost their lives and now the community is coming together to remember them in a special way.
Amidst the growing pines of Dog Creek near 100 Mile House rests the bones of DC6 airplane, lying half buried in the grass.
It’s a chilling reminder of one of B.C.’s most infamous plane crashes, one that investigators believe may have been a murder plot.
The plane was blown out of the sky.
100 Mile House resident Ruth Peterson was moved to fundraise to build a memorial to victims.
“I visited the site last summer, can’t believe people didn’t know about it, it should be remembered.”
On a warm summer night in July 1965, Canadian Airlines flight 21 was on route from Vancouver to Prince George.
Just before 8 p,m, traffic control heard three mayday calls, then silence.
Witnesses saw the tail of the plane blow off, and the burning fuselage crashed to earth. 46 passengers and 6 crew members were killed.
A Coroner’s Inquest concluded a bomb was set off in lavatory.
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The RCMP investigation focused on four passengers. One man had taken out a $125,000 life insurance policy only half-an-hour before the flight.
Another was an explosives expert, and had been charged in a 1958 murder.
A third man was known to own a large quantity of gunpowder, some of which was missing from his home.
The fourth person of interest was an accountant who had just completed an audit of a failed financial service firm.
No one was ever charged in the plane crash.
Many of the victims came from around Vancouver, but some were visiting from as far away as California and Norway.
There are small memorial tags hanging from a tree near the crash site. Now there will be an official cairn dedicated Saturday.
To view more photos of the wreckage, click here
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