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| Date: | Sunday 23 August 1953 |
| Time: | |
| Type: |  Avro Lancaster Mk 10 MR |
| Owner/operator: | Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF) |
| Registration: | KB999 |
| MSN: | 37300 |
| Fatalities: | Fatalities: 0 / Occupants: 8 |
| Other fatalities: | 0 |
| Aircraft damage: | Destroyed |
| Location: | 48 miles West of Arviat, NU -
 Canada
|
| Phase: | En route |
| Nature: | Military |
| Departure airport: | RCAF Rockcliffe, ON |
| RCAF Churchill, MB |
Lancaster KB999 of 405 Squadron, based at Greenwood, NS, deployed to RCAF Rockcliffe, ON, to complete an atomic fallout sensing mission from Soviet H-Bomb tests. The planned route took them from Rockcliffe northwest over Hudson Bay and then a westerly heading from Chesterfield Inlet. They were to get air samples and recover at Churchill to the south. The crew ran into a strong storm front and became lost. The pilot tried to fly under the weather looking for the coast of Hudson Bay, but contacted the ground and bounced onto a deep, unnamed lake 48 miles (78 km) west of Eskimo Point (now Arviat) NU and 176 miles (283 km) north of Churchill. Fortunately, the aircraft came to rest on a sand bar. The eight crew survived the crash and established a camp on the nearby shore. On 29-Aug-1953 a Dakota search aircraft located the downed flyers. All crew were rescued, but the Lancaster now lies on the bottom of the lake.
Pilot : Flying Officer T A R Staners RAF
Sources:
https://www.lancaster-archive.com/lanc_surv_kb999.htm
http://www.dunrobincastle.com/Nose_Art/Stories/Lancaster_KB999_Part2.htm
https://old.bombercommandmuseum.ca/photos_lanc/photos_kb999.html
Rob Davis Bomber Command Losses Database http://robdavistelford.co.uk/webspace/raf_bc
Revision history:
| Date/time | Contributor | Updates |
|---|---|---|
| 15-Feb-2022 07:08 | Cosmo | Added |
| 30-Sep-2025 07:07 | Rob Davis | Updated [Source, Narrative, ] |
Corrections or additions? ... Edit this accident description
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