Ford Tri-Motor
Vancouver
Search
Douglas
TBD-1 Devastator
Crashed
B-17
Tacoma
Narrows Project
Anchor
Project
P-38
in Adak Alaska
Wrecks
of Lake Washington
Boeing
314 Clipper Project
|
| Ford Tri-Motor |
Become a part of this historical endeavor!
Contact us at support@uasi.org
to join the expedition! First phase to commence May 16, 17, and 18th,
2005.
Excerpts from
lead story in the Seattle Daily Times August 26, 1928:
" With six persons aboard a giant 14 passenger British Columbia Airways
passenger plane, Seattle bound, was down somewhere between Victoria and
Seattle last night. The plane was last reported seen over Dungeness
before heavy fog set in at 11 o'clock yesterday morning." |
Aircraft loss
occurred on August 25, 1928. The lost were:
| Pilot |
Harold
Walker of Seattle |
| Assistant Pilot |
Louis
Carson of Victoria |
| Passengers |
Thomas
E. Lake of San Francisco, Far East Manager of the Union Oil Company |
|
Mr. and
Mrs. Alexander McCallun Scott, British statesman and his wife of London |
|
Dr.
D.B. Holden of Victoria |
|
Dr.
Floyd D. Soverel of East Orange, New Jersey |
Dr. Soverel was a last minute passenger, purchasing his ticket and
boarding the aircraft in Vancouver before it departed to Victoria and
then onto Seattle.
Seven actually perished. The bodies of Mrs. Scott and Dr. Soverel
(Originally not listed on the flight) were discovered washed ashore in
Discovery Bay along with several of the wicker passenger seats, metal
floor board and Mr. Scott's briefcase.
The pilot received his training as part of the US Army Air Corps, but
he did not see combat in Europe.
Mr. Scott had been Winston Churchill's parliamentary secretary when
Churchill was Minister of Munitions.
Naval Aircraft from Sand Point participated in the search. One Army Air
Corps plane crashed during the search, but with only minor injuries to
the pilot and observer. (Pilot was an Army Lieutenant and the observer
was a Navy Ensign)
That plane was apparently repairable.
Initially (for a day or so) it was thought, perhaps hopefully, that the
plane had been forced to make an emergency landing on land due to the
fog and that they were just in a very unpopulated area and were having
to hike out.
Note: While the search was on going, Charles Lindberg was visiting
Seattle (August 28th) to promote US development of Aviation and inspect
the new tri-motor passenger aircraft completed by Boeing.
US Coast Guard worked diligently to locate the aircraft and recover
bodies. Operations were called off when the Airline determined that the
cost of the aircraft recovery would exceed the salvage value of the
three radial engines from the aircraft.
At the time it was the worst Canadian air disaster.
Ford Tri-Motor
Manufactured by Stout Metal Airplane Company (Ford)
| Wing Span |
77' |
| Length |
49' |
| Height |
13' |
| Power
Plant |
3 Pratt
& Whitney 9 Cylinder, radial air cooled engines. Each providing 450
HP |
| Weight |
13,250
lbs (Max Loaded) |
| Max
Speed |
135 mph
|
| Cruise
Speed |
115 mph
|
| Useful
payload |
2, 000
lbs |
| Range |
550
miles ( 4 1/2 hours ) |
| Fuel
Capacity |
348
gallons |
|
|
