Navigator Returns to Scene of Crash
Twenty-seven years ago, Lace Knechtel and 11 other RCAF members survived an airplane crash back of Radar Hill near Tofino. Now a resident of Seattle and a Captain with the Jail Division of the Seattle Police Department, he returned to Tofino with his wife Margaret, in hopes of returning to view the remains of the crashed aircraft.
Captain and Mrs. Knechtel inquired with the now late Len Thomas of McCulley Aviation in February in anticipation of flying over the area but weather was such that they were forced to postpone their venture until last Friday evening when Keith Gibson piloted Captain Knechtel over the crash site. Then on Saturday morning, accompanied by Ken Gibson, they hiked through the dense growth that Captain Knechtel remembers so well as being the route taken to safety twenty-seven years ago.
Captain Knechtel’s account of the events leading to and from the crash scene were written in March to Len Thomas and he gave permission to have it published. Following are excerpts from his letter:
"Regarding the crash of Canso 11007, the official location is 49 degrees 07 minutes north and 125 degrees 46 minutes west. There were twelve people aboard. The pilot was named Ronnie Scholes. I was flying as pilot-navigator. We left Coal Harbour about noon on the 10 February 1945 and flew to Tofino. The weather was quite blustery by the time we landed at Tofino. Several of us then drove to Ucluelet to pick up some engine parts (I think it was) and then spent the early evening hours in the Tofino mess. We finally cleared for take-off at 2300 hours and had just cleared the end of the runway when the port engine quit cold. At this time we were carrying 12 people (one WD), 4 – 250 pound depth charges, normal emergency gear and about 750 gallons of gas.
Ronnie said later we were too low to turn and couldn’t gain altitude so he decided to land straight ahead. He actually flew the aircraft into a full-stall landing at impact point. I personally feel that the majority of us on board owe our lives to his sheer guts.
I was in the port blister, facing aft, when I realized the plane was in a stall attitude. I looked out to my right and we were down between the trees! We hit, the tail went up and up until I was looking at the stars past the tail – then it crashed down and all the lights in the aircraft went out. I could hear a crackling noise, looked out forward and saw, through a waterfall of gasoline from the ruptured left wing tank, the port engine on fire. There was no sound from anyone – I thought they were all dead – until I heard someone start swearing. I yelled for a fire extinguisher – one of the engineers (I think his name was Bell) handed one out to me and I climbed up over the wing by kicking a foot hold to get started. When I got over the top, the nose was ripped completely away forward of the pilots seats – the seats were just sitting there in the open!. The nose was laying off to the right and on its side. I can still recall seeing the florescent instruments and hearing the gyros humming!
Three of us were unhurt. Ronnie had a fractured forehead and a broken nose. The WD had a sprained ankle and the others had numerous cuts and bruises – all minor! We moved everyone downhill about 150 feet, set up a parachute for a tent and the three uninjured made trips back to the aircraft for emergency gear (sleeping bags, emergency rations etc.) We bedded down the more seriously injured in the tent and established a watch. We tried the "Gibson Girl" without an aerial as I wouldn’t allow any of the fellows to climb a tree in the dark.
About 0300 hours we could hear shouting on the airport and then an aircraft cranked up. A few minutes later we could see his port running light so I fired a red flare with a Very pistol – he flew straight ahead and disappeared. About the time I stopped cussing him for his blindness, he came around the hill from the other side, circling left and dropped a parachute flare. It scared the hell out of us. We didn’t know whether it would drop on us or on the aircraft with the spilled gasoline and bombs (actually Depth Charge’s). It missed everything however.
The next morning the aircraft took off again – flew in a straight line from the airport to the crash site – homed the ground party right in on us. They packed out the injured – the walking wounded walked and we all ended up in the base hospital for treatment, observation or whatever.
I don’t know how much equipment was brought out by later ground parties but was quite thrilled to find the old beast is still there. The only picture I have is glued into my album so tightly that I’m afraid to try to take it out. Should we return to Tofino this summer, as we hope to do, I shall bring it along. I definitely would like to triangulate the crash site and hike in to it. Also, hope the weather has improved over what it was when we were there. It certainly brought back fond memories of rain, fog and low clouds.
If anyone knows of the whereabouts of the other survivors, Captain Knechtel would appreciate hearing. His address is 2342 North 237th, Seattle, Washington, 98133.
Pinetree Line web site notes:
This article appears to have been written by Lace Knetchel. It was published in a Ucluelet newspaper on Thursday, July 27th, 1972.
I find it somewhat ironic that the same article was printed in the Alberni Valley Times, Port Alberni, BC on Wednesday, March 21, 1973.
And as if that isn’t taking the situation one step too far, the Ron Mak article in the Air Classic Review of 1987 is again, exactly word for word.
The article was reprinted in the Wednesday, August 2, 1989 issue of the Westerly News, Tofino-Ucluelet, BC courtesy of Ken Gibson.