30 October, 1991 — Canadian Forces C-130 operating as Boxtop 22 crashed 10 miles-ish from Canadian Forces Station Alert (82’30” N 62’35”W).
I had gone into work in Ottawa that morning. We had just come back up to our office from having coffee when word came in that this aircraft had thundered in. We were in shock as one of the people on that aircraft was a friend and coworker of everybody in the office. I had never seen a happy office turning into a place with the atmosphere of a morgue.
After the aircraft went down, a massive Arctic storm hit. It took 30 hours to reach the crash site even though it was quite close, as the crow flies. Terrain and weather complicated matters.
My friend was one of the survivors.
In spring 1993, the survivors of this crash, and their families, were flown up to Alert for the unveiling of a memorial cairn. I was honoured to have been a part of the military honour guard for this ceremony. I also had, and took, the opportunity to overfly the crash site in a helicopter. Seeing the condition of the aircraft, and how it broke up, drove home how difficult the conditions were for the survivors.