1985 CFB Edmonton mid-air collision
Canadian Armed Forces Lockheed CC-130H Hercules and Canadian Armed Forces Lockheed CC-130H Hercules · Mid-air collision
Event
- Event typeAccident: someone killed or seriously injured, or the aircraft substantially damaged (NTSB definition). Incident: an occurrence that affected or could have affected safety, short of that. Glossary
- Accident
- Event fatalities
- 10 · all aircraft and ground
- Ground fatalities
- Unknown
- Occupants
- 10
- Survivors
- 0
- InjuriesFatal: death within 30 days. Serious: over 48 hours in hospital within a week, most broken bones, severe bleeding, nerve or organ damage, or serious burns. Minor: anything less. Glossary
- Unknown
- OperationWhat kind of flying it was, grouped by the rules it flew under: airline (US Part 121), air taxi and commuter (Part 135), general aviation (Part 91 and similar), military or government. Glossary
- Military
Aircraft 1 · Lockheed CC-130H Hercules
- Aircraft type
- Lockheed CC-130
- Category
- Airplane · from aircraft type
- RegistrationThe aircraft's tail number, such as N12345 or G-ABCD. Registrations are reissued, so the same one years apart can be a different aircraft. Glossary
- 130330
- Operator
- Canadian Armed Forces
- Onboard fatalities
- 6
- Occupants
- 6
- Survivors
- 0
- InjuriesFatal: death within 30 days. Serious: over 48 hours in hospital within a week, most broken bones, severe bleeding, nerve or organ damage, or serious burns. Minor: anything less. Glossary
- None · no survivors
- Route
- From not recordedTo not recorded
Aircraft 2 · Lockheed CC-130H Hercules
- Aircraft type
- Lockheed CC-130
- Category
- Airplane · from aircraft type
- RegistrationThe aircraft's tail number, such as N12345 or G-ABCD. Registrations are reissued, so the same one years apart can be a different aircraft. Glossary
- 130331
- Operator
- Canadian Armed Forces
- Onboard fatalities
- 4
- Occupants
- 4
- Survivors
- 0
- InjuriesFatal: death within 30 days. Serious: over 48 hours in hospital within a week, most broken bones, severe bleeding, nerve or organ damage, or serious burns. Minor: anything less. Glossary
- None · no survivors
- Route
- From not recordedTo not recorded
Approximate · Coordinates from the Wikipedia article; not checked against an investigation report.
From the Wikipedia article
On 29 March 1985, two Lockheed CC-130H Hercules of the Royal Canadian Air Force collided mid-air above the Canadian Forces base in Edmonton, then called CFB Namao, killing all 10 on board both aircraft. It remains the deadliest aircraft accident in Alberta history and the deadliest Royal Canadian Air Force crash since the 1965 loss of a Canadair CL-28-2 Argus off Puerto Rico.
Accident
The accident occurred at 7:15 PM following a ceremonial flypast of the mess hall to commemorate the 61st anniversary of the RCAF. The aircraft were part of three plane formation with Trucker Lead in the front. The planes began an attempt of a manoeuvre known as the "battle break" that involved climbing and then turning in unison. During a left bank at 1,500 feet on approach to the runway, Trucker 2's wing collided with the wing of Trucker Lead causing both planes to plummet to the ground and explode near the end of the runway. One of the engines from the planes fell and crashed into a garage where one person was present causing minimal damage. One of the aircraft crashed into a wooden warehouse storing a Avro Lancaster from WWII while the other crashed between two fuel storage tanks scattering debris over an area equivalent to four city blocks. Both planes burst into flames, levelling the warehouse and melting nearby vehicles. The explosions shot fireballs into the sky which were visible from nearby Namao. Miraculously neither of the fuel tanks ignited despite the intense heat.
Text from the Wikipedia article “1985 CFB Edmonton mid-air collision” (revision 1370673769, retrieved 2026-09-18) by its authors, under CC BY-SA 4.0. Extracted as plain text: references, tables, images and some sections are left out. Read the article
Sources
Wikipedia article: 1985 CFB Edmonton mid-air collision
- Revision
- 1370673769 · 2026-08-22 · retrieved 2026-09-18
- Wikidata
- Q134663176
- Licence
- Text CC BY-SA 4.0, by the article's authors; Wikidata CC0; town positions GeoNames (CC BY 4.0)
Where each value comes from
- Record
- Wikipedia article "1985 CFB Edmonton mid-air collision" (page 79996482, revision 1370673769)
- Date
- Wikipedia infobox: date
- Place and country
- Wikipedia infobox: site
- Map position
- Wikipedia article coordinates
- Aircraft, operator and route
- Wikipedia infobox: aircraft type, registration, operator, origin and destination; route airports from the linked airport articles' Wikidata codes (OurAirports)
- Operation
- operator is an armed force according to Wikidata
- Fatalities
- Wikipedia infobox: total_fatalities
- Ground fatalities
- not stated in the Wikipedia infobox
- Summary
- Wikipedia infobox: summary
Source notes (1)
- Wikipedia · Facts from the Wikipedia article's infobox and coordinates, not checked against an investigation report. Independent review pending.