This aircraft's whereabouts was passed on to me by a few people, but the location description was always sketchy. "You'll need a boat," I was told. "...you'll have to put in on the west end of the lake and row east along the south shore to reach it."

I put this trip on the back-burner and spent some time on occasion tracing the logging roads on Google Maps to see if I could find an easy way to reach it, and where exactly it was. The resolution in our area is not great. Bing Maps finally delivered, showing me what appeared to be an old trail leading to a silver dot on the shore, that looked like the wreckage.

I mapped a course and measured the distances and headed out on my dirt bike. I suspected the old trail would be easy to find, if it was still discernible on the satellite view. Armed with a machete, some bear spray and my GPS, I made my way up. 40km on the highway, then 40 km down a gravel road until I reached an old roadway into the forest. I parked my bike back in the bush and headed down a heavily over-grown path, cutting some of the brush and leaving flagging tape so I could find my way back.

After some heavy bush-wacking and GPS tracking, I found the aircraft.

The plane was an old water bomber, which crashed in the 1980's. No one was injured in the mishap, but the details of what exactly happened are a bit fuzzy. I have my suspicions, based on the fact that the wreckage has the landing gear down and locked on a lake. Most of the aircraft has been salvaged and the rest is left to rot in the middle of nowhere.


My new ride. This baby helps me access places much easier and it's way easier to
sneak in and hide on locations.

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The bush was thick, right down to the shoreline.



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The aircraft's front was completely ripped-off, which is amazing to hear that nobody was killed. The wing was also removed

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Thanks for viewing!

Those are some cool shots, and holy heck on the dedication to get out there. 40 km of backcountry riding and bushwacking is an impressive amount of effort to get to a spot, so thanks for posting the fruits of those labors!

Also, I'd definitely like to hear more about your theories regarding the events of the crash if you're willing to go into them!

Posted by Aran ...holy heck on the dedication to get out there... Also, I'd definitely like to hear more about your theories regarding the events of the crash if you're willing to go into them!

I live in the middle of nowhere, in Northern Ontario now. There's nothing else to do, haha.

As for the plane crash, the aircraft could land on a runway or on water. I suspect, because the landing gear was down and locked, that it was mistakenly put down during a water landing, causing the gear to dig into the water, making the aircraft lose control and crash.

The aircraft was a water bomber, so it's possible it was doing a pass to scoop water, and perhaps the gear was deployed instead of the scoops by mistakenly pulling the wrong lever.

The fact that the crash report says, "reasons unknown." and it happened 80km North of the only town and was witnessed by no-one.

Just a theory though... I'm sure a local knows the story, but I haven't found out exactly yet.

Now that's dedication in locating and reaching a spot. Certainly worth the effort! Great shots and write-up.

Nice stuff. I admire your tenacity for getting to this place. Congratulations and thanks for sharing.

I love those flying boats for their involvement in the most audacious search and rescue mission in all Canadian history, the evacuation of the survivors of the Sabena Airlines DC-4 crash outside Gander in 1946. Multiple PBYs, barely operational helicopters, rafts galore, ad hoc radio repeaters, air drops of supplies, dozens of dudes hacking their way through the NL woods...

A very cool story if it weren't for the tragic loss of life. Tons of details here for anyone interested in Canadian aviation history:

http://www.gandera...8/Sabena_crash.htm

Posted by Emperor Wang Nice stuff. I admire your tenacity for getting to this place. Congratulations and thanks for sharing. I love those flying boats for their involvement in the most audacious search and rescue mission in all Canadian history, the evacuation of the survivors of the Sabena Airlines DC-4 crash outside Gander in 1946. Multiple PBYs, barely operational helicopters, rafts galore, ad hoc radio repeaters, air drops of supplies, dozens of dudes hacking their way through the NL woods... A very cool story if it weren't for the tragic loss of life. Tons of details here for anyone interested in Canadian aviation history: http://www.gandera...8/Sabena_crash.htm

Wow, that's a really interesting website. I never heard of that crash until now. Thanks for sharing!

Very cool and well worth the journey to find it