6 Group Unavailable
32 Operational Training Unit (OTU) RCAF Station Patricia Bay, British Columbia. Handley-Page Hampden P 5436 H-LB developed a "stabilized yaw" while turning at low speed and altitude during a torpedo-dropping exercise. The Hampden crashed into Saanich Inlet, British Columbia, but the 4-man crew escaped the aircraft before it sank in 600 feet of water. They were all later rescued by 3 Operational Training Unit (OTU) Supermarine Stranraer 947 flying boat piloted by Squadron Leader E W Cowan (RCAF) also flying out of Patricia Bay
The accident investigation found pilot error with possible high wind as a factor in the loss of the aircraft
Pilot Leonard Harry Robinson (RAFVR), Navigator Derek Walter Smith (RAC), Wireless Operator/Air Gunner Kenneth Edwin Blood (RAAF) and Wireless Operator/Air Gunner John Ovila Fink (RCAF) all survived this flying training accident
In 1985-6 Hampden P 5436 was salvaged from Saanich Inlet and restored for static display at the Canadian Museum of Flight in Langley, British Columbia and is the only complete Hampden airframe to survive
0664_001.pdf (1) Recovering Hampden P5436: 10 Tons Couldn't Move the WWII Bomb...
