On 12 May 1962, an Eastern Provincial Airways Canso amphibian flying boat operating for Greenlandair (now Air Greenland) sank at Godthåb (now Nuuk) in Greenland, causing the death of 15 passengers.[1]

1962 Goodthab Catalina crash

A Consolidated PBY-5A similar to the accident aircraft
Accident
Date	12 May 1962
Summary	Sank on landing
Site	Godthab harbour
Aircraft
Aircraft type	Canadian-Vickers PBY-5A Canso
Operator	Eastern Provincial Airways on behalf of Greenlandair (now Air Greenland)
Registration	CF-IHA
Flight origin	Kangerlussuaq Airport, Greenland
Destination	Godthåb, Greenland
Passengers	18
Crew	3
Fatalities	15
Survivors	6

Accident

The Catalina was operating a scheduled flight from Kangerlussuaq Airport to Godthåb for Greenlandair with 21 on board, while landing on the water at Goodthab harbour it sank with 15 passengers being killed.[1] Initial reports were that the aircraft had hit debris on the water.[2]

Aircraft

The aircraft CF-IHA was a Canadian-built variant of the Consolidated Catalina built by Canadian-Vickers in 1944.[1] It was built for the Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF) with serial number 11058 until it was sold in 1947.

Investigation

A technical investigation concluded that the nose wheel doors had not closed properly probably due to mechanical failure.[1] With a gap of 70mm, the doors were torn off on landing letting water into the nose wheel bay, the pressure of water caused a bulkhead to fail and the aircraft to sink.[1]

References

На других языках

[de] Flugunfall der Greenlandair bei Nuuk 1962