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Convent Crash

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Crash of Royal Canadian Air Force jet
Photograph of a CF-100 Mk.5 in flightAn Avro Canada CF-100 Canuck
Accident
Date15 May 1956 (1956-05-15)
SummaryAircraft crashed into building. Cause undetermined.
Total fatalities15
Aircraft
Aircraft typeAvro Canada CF-100 Canuck
OperatorRoyal Canadian Air Force
Flight originRCAF Station Uplands
DestinationRCAF Station Uplands
Occupants2
Crew2
Fatalities2
Ground casualties
Ground fatalities13

The Convent Crash, also known as the Orléans air disaster and Villa St. Louis disaster, occurred on May 15, 1956, after a CF-100 fighter jet crashed into Villa St. Louis, a convent in the community of Orleans, Ontario, Canada. The two pilots were killed in the crash, along with 13 people in the building: 11 members of the Grey Nuns, a civilian servant, and the chaplain, a retired naval padre.

Events

At 10:37 p.m. May 15, 1956, two CF-100s took off from their base at RCAF Station Uplands (located south of Ottawa) on an exercise to practice interception techniques in identifying an unknown aircraft heading towards Montreal. The plane was identified as a RCAF North Star flying from Resolute Bay to Dorval Airport. The two planes climbed to 33,000 feet (10,000 m) and burn off excess fuel before returning to base.

One of the aircraft returned to base, but the other remained airborne longer to burn off more excess fuel. The plane descended at a speed of nearly 680 miles per hour (1,090 km/h) and crashed into the Villa St. Louis. The cause has never been officially determined, but it is thought that an oxygen failure caused the crew to pass out.

Impact

At the time the plane crashed many of the occupants of the building were asleep. The three-storey, seventy-room building was run by the Grey Nuns. The two crewmen of the plane were killed instantly upon impact with the building. Then the fuel of the plane ignited and a fire ensued. Some of the occupants of the building jumped from windows. Others remained trapped in the building frantically trying to open windows. Victims unable to escape their rooms died of smoke inhalation. The fire was extinguished in the early hours of the next day.

Convent Crash memorial

Legacy

A memorial 20-foot (6.1 m) cross adorned with a model CF-101 Voodoo fighter aircraft, surrounded by 15 stones taken from the rubble of Villa St-Louis is dedicated to the memory of the fifteen victims of the Orléans Aviation Disaster. The memorial was erected behind Villa St-Louis on May 13, 2009, by a group of Orléans veterans and members of the Sisters of Charity of Ottawa.

A ceremony marked the 50th anniversary of Villa St-Louis disaster at the Residence Saint-Louis long term care facility which was built on the same site as the old Villa St-Louis. The ceremony was organized by three former members of the RCAF in co-operation with the Sisters of Charity who run the Residence Saint-Louis and the Orléans Legion.

References

  1. ^ "Orléans Aviation Disaster Memorial". National Inventory of Canadian Military Memorials. Canadian Department of National Defence. 2008-04-16. Archived from the original on 2014-05-20. Retrieved 20 May 2014.
  2. ^ Sherwin, Fred (2008-04-16). "Orléans Aviation Disaster 50th anniversary". Orleans Online. Archived from the original on 20 May 2014. Retrieved 20 May 2014.
  3. "Jet Crash at Villa St. Louis". Ottawa through time from the Andrews-Newton Photographs. City of Ottawa Archives. Retrieved 2011-11-23.

45°29′00″N 75°32′45″W / 45.4833°N 75.5458°W / 45.4833; -75.5458

Aviation accidents and incidents in Canada
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Aviation accidents and incidents in 1956 (1956)
Feb 8 RAF multiple aircraft accidentFeb 18 Scottish Airlines Malta disasterFeb 20 Cairo DC-6 plane crashMar 10 US Air Force B-47 disappearanceApr 1 TWA Flight 400Apr 2 Northwest Orient Airlines Flight 2May 15 Convent CrashJun 20 Linea Aeropostal Venezolana Flight 253Jun 24 Kano Airport BOAC Argonaut crashJun 30 Grand Canyon mid-air collisionJul 9 Trans-Canada Air Lines Flight 304Jul 13 United States Air Force Flight 441/13Jul 24 RAF Lakenheath B-47 crashSep 22 Eindhoven Lockheed T-33 crashOct 1 London Heathrow Avro Vulcan crashOct 10 Atlantic R6D-1 disappearanceOct 16 Pan Am Flight 6Nov 7 Braathens SAFE Flight 253Nov 24 ČSA Flight 548Nov 24 Linee Aeree Italiane Flight 451Nov 27 Linea Aeropostal Venezolana Flight 253Dec 9 Trans-Canada Air Lines Flight 810Dec 9 Anadyr Li-2 crash
1955   ◄    ►   1957
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