Pacific Western Airlines Flight 501

1984 aviation incident

Pacific Western Airlines Flight 501
Accident
The aircraft involved in the accident
Date	22 March 1984 (1984-03-22)
Summary	Fire, uncontained engine failure
Site	Calgary International Airport, Calgary, Alberta, Canada 51°07′21″N 114°00′47″W / 51.1225°N 114.0130°W / 51.1225; -114.0130
Aircraft
Aircraft type	Boeing 737-275
Operator	Pacific Western Airlines
IATA flight No.	PW501
ICAO flight No.	PWA501
Registration	C-GQPW
Flight origin	Calgary International Airport
Destination	Edmonton International Airport
Occupants	119
Passengers	114
Crew	5
Fatalities	0
Injuries	27
Survivors	119

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Pacific Western Airlines Flight 501 was a regularly scheduled flight from Calgary to Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. The aircraft caught fire during takeoff on March 22, 1984. All 119 passengers and crew members survived, but five people suffered serious injuries while 22 others suffered minor injuries.

Accident description

The Boeing 737, registered C-GQPW, taxied from the gate at Calgary International Airport at 7:35 AM and proceeded to take off on runway 34, carrying five crew members and 114 passengers. At 7:42 AM, a loud popping sound was heard 20 seconds into the takeoff run. The aircraft began to vibrate and veer to the left, and a fire broke out in the rear of the aircraft. The pilot, Stan Fleming, managed to abort the take-off.

An emergency evacuation was ordered as the fire spread throughout the aircraft. Five people were seriously injured and 22 suffered minor injuries, but no one was killed. The aircraft was destroyed by the fire.

The Canadian Aviation Safety Board (CASB) determined that an uncontained failure of the left engine thirteenth stage compressor disc had occurred. Debris from the engine punctured a fuel cell, resulting in the fire. The disc failure was the result of fatigue cracking. This incident was similar to the cause of the British Airtours Flight 28M disaster that claimed 55 lives in 1985.

References

Ranter, Harro. "ASN Aircraft accident Boeing 737-275 C-GQPW Calgary International Airport, AB (YYC)". aviation-safety.net. Aviation Safety Network. Retrieved 2020-05-25.
"AVIATION OCCURRENCE REPORT, PACIFIC WESTERN AIRLINES LTD., BOEING 737-200 C-GQPW, CALGARY INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT, CALGARY, ALBERTA, 22 MARCH 1984" (PDF). Canadian Aviation Safety Board. 1987-02-24. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2006-11-04. Retrieved 2020-05-25.

External links

Final accident report (Archive)

v t e Aviation accidents and incidents in Canada
1940s	American Airlines Flight 1 (October 1941) Saint-Donat RCAF Liberator III crash (October 1943) 1946 American Overseas Airlines Douglas DC-4 crash (October 1946) Canadian Pacific Air Lines Flight 108 (September 1949)
1950s	Douglas C-54D disappearance (January 1950) British Columbia B-36 crash (February 1950) Trans-Canada Air Lines Flight 9 (May 1954) Convent Crash (May 1956) Trans-Canada Air Lines Flight 810 (December 1956) Maritime Central Airways Flight 315 (August 1957) Pan Am Flight 115 (February 1959)
1960s	Trans-Canada Air Lines Flight 831 (November 1963) Canadian Pacific Air Lines Flight 21 (July 1965) ČSA Flight 523 (September 1967)
1970s	Air Canada Flight 621 (July 1970) American Airlines Flight 96 (June 1972) Panarctic Oils Flight 416 (October 1974) TWA Flight 355 (September 1976) Pacific Western Airlines Flight 314 (February 1978) Air Canada Flight 189 (June 1978) Quebecair Flight 255 (March 1979)
1980s	Gimli Glider (July 1983) Pacific Western Airlines Flight 501 (March 1984) Arrow Air Flight 1285R (December 1985) Air Ontario Flight 1363 (March 1989)
1990s	Air Canada Flight 646 (December 1997) Propair Flight 420 (June 1998) Swissair Flight 111 (September 1998)
2000s	Korean Air Flight 085 (September 2001) MK Airlines Flight 1602 (October 2004) Air France Flight 358 (August 2005) Cougar Helicopters Flight 91 (March 2009) Northwest Airlines Flight 253 (December 2009)
2010s	Conair CV-580 crash (July 2010) Missinippi Airways Cessna 208 crash (July 2011) First Air Flight 6560 (August 2011) Air Canada Flight 624 (March 2015) West Wind Aviation Flight 282 (December 2017) Sky Lease Cargo Flight 4854 (November 2018)
2020s	Toronto Pearson International Airport heist (April 2023) Northwestern Air Flight 738 (January 2024)

v t e Aviation accidents and incidents in 1984 (1984)
Jan 10 Balkan Bulgarian Tupolev Tu-134 crashFeb 28 Scandinavian Airlines System Flight 901Mar 22 Pacific Western Airlines Flight 501Jun 28 TARSA Bandeirante accidentJul 5 Indian Airlines Flight 405Aug 2 Vieques Air Link Flight 901AAug 5 Biman Bangladesh Airlines Fokker F27 crashAug 24 Indian Airlines Flight 421Aug 24 San Luis Obispo mid-air collisionAug 30 Cameroon Airlines Flight 786Sep 18 Aeroservicios Ecuatorianos Flight 767-103Oct 11 Aeroflot Flight 3352Dec 6 Provincetown-Boston Airlines Flight 1039Dec 23 Aeroflot Flight 3519
1983 ◄ ► 1985

Aviation accidents and incidents in 1984 (1984)

Jan 10 Balkan Bulgarian Tupolev Tu-134 crashFeb 28 Scandinavian Airlines System Flight 901Mar 22 Pacific Western Airlines Flight 501Jun 28 TARSA Bandeirante accidentJul 5 Indian Airlines Flight 405Aug 2 Vieques Air Link Flight 901AAug 5 Biman Bangladesh Airlines Fokker F27 crashAug 24 Indian Airlines Flight 421Aug 24 San Luis Obispo mid-air collisionAug 30 Cameroon Airlines Flight 786Sep 18 Aeroservicios Ecuatorianos Flight 767-103Oct 11 Aeroflot Flight 3352Dec 6 Provincetown-Boston Airlines Flight 1039Dec 23 Aeroflot Flight 3519

1983 ◄ ► 1985

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