Known Squadron Assignments:

Registration issued to Fairchild Aircraft Ltd. of Montreal on 7 March 1930.

Wednesday, 12 March 1930, was a typical, late winter day in Ottawa. Weather conditions were good, with the wind out of the west, and a high temperature of 7 degrees Celsius. The Fairchild trainer was flown from Montreal to the Rockcliffe aerodrome in the morning by Captain Donald Shaw, the Fairchild Company's test pilot. The trip was uneventful, with the airplane performing as it should. Shortly before 1pm, William Barker, who had travelled to Ottawa by train, decided to take the airplane up for a spin. He had never flown that model aircraft before but liked to take every opportunity to fly to maintain his competency. Apparently, until he joined the Fairchild Aviation Company two months earlier, he had done little flying since leaving the RCAF in 1926.

Barker seated himself in the real cockpit of the small trainer with registration marking CF-AKR. He warmed up his engine, taxied into the wind, and made a perfect take-off. After circling the airfield, he flew to the north-east across the Ottawa River to the Quebec side. Turning back towards the Rockcliffe aerodrome, something went wrong. One observer, struck by the odd manner in which the airplane was performing, claimed that he had a premonition that something was about to happen. Flying at an altitude of only a couple of hundred feet, the aircraft swerved and then plummeted straight down into the slushy ice of the Ottawa River roughly one hundred yards from the Rockcliffe slip close to the aerodrome. Striking the ice nose first, Barker's aircraft crashed onto its left side. The plane was a tangled wreck. One of the blades of the propeller was sheared off on impact, while the other was broken in two. The engine was jammed back into the fuselage by the force of the crash. Only the rear of the plane and its right wing were left relatively intact. Col. Barker was found still seated in the real cockpit, but he was beyond human help. His body had been crushed on impact, his head smashed against the dashboard of his control panel. Today in Ottawa History, March 2016

Today in Ottawa History

last update: 2024-September-22
1930-March-12 KIFA RCAF Wing Commander William George "Billy" Barker VC, DSO & Bar, MC & Bar (2), MiD (3), CDGF, Silver Star of Valour (Italy) (2) 2024-11-09

Known Squadron Assignments:

First registered as CF-AMW. Operated as transport and trainer by Civil Aviation Branch. Several subsequent owners after being sold. Reverted to CF-AMW registration when sold to Fleet. Withdrawn from use December 1939, after damage in a landing accident in March 1939.
last update: 2024-September-22
RCAF Aircraft Record Card
   1930-July-23 Taken on Strength 2022-02-07
   1936-October-21 Sold as Surplus Sold to Fleet Aircraft of Fort Erie, Ontario. 2019-08-20
   1936-October-28 Struck off Strength 2022-02-07