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1953 Quebec Noorduyn Norseman crash

25 Aug 1953 · Lake Emmanuel, Northern Quebec, Canada

Mont Laurier Aviation Noorduyn Norseman · Forced landing in wilderness, prolonged survival, successful rescue

From Fort Chimo, Canada to Roberval, Canada

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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
0 · all aircraft and ground
Ground fatalities
Unknown
Occupants
7
Survivors
7
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
Airline

Noorduyn Norseman

Aircraft type
Noorduyn NORSEMAN
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
CF-CPL
Onboard fatalities
0
Route
From Fort Chimo, CanadaTo Roberval, Canada

Not plotted · Not plotted: the Wikipedia article gives no coordinates, and its site names no town or airport that matches exactly.

From the Wikipedia article

The 1953 Quebec Noorduyn Norseman crash, was an aviation incident in which a Noorduyn Norseman floatplane carrying seven people became lost in the wilderness of northern Quebec, Canada, after a forced landing on a remote lake during a flight from Fort Chimo to Roberval.

The search operation, codenamed Operation Chimo, ultimately became the largest search-and-rescue mission conducted in Canada. After nearly six weeks of isolation, all occupants were rescued alive following an extensive multi-agency search operation involving the Royal Canadian Air Force and civilian operators.

Flight and forced landing

The Noorduyn Norseman CF-CPL departed from Fort Chimo (now Kuujjuaq) bound for Roberval, Quebec. During the flight over poorly mapped northern terrain, the aircraft became lost and eventually made a forced landing on Lake Emmanuel in the wilderness. Search efforts began shortly afterward but were repeatedly hampered by the vast and unmapped region.

Text from the Wikipedia article “1953 Quebec Noorduyn Norseman crash” (revision 1368574610, 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: 1953 Quebec Noorduyn Norseman crash
Article
1953 Quebec Noorduyn Norseman crash
Revision
1368574610 · 2026-08-09 · retrieved 2026-09-18
Wikidata
Q140331131
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 "1953 Quebec Noorduyn Norseman crash" (page 83528632, revision 1368574610)
Date
Wikipedia infobox: date
Place and country
Wikipedia infobox: site
Map position
none
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 airline according to Wikidata
Fatalities
Wikipedia infobox: aircraft 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.