The Museum has received a book review (thanks to Jack Schofield of Coast Dog Press) by a retired airline pilot who was very much involved in this aviation scene. Read on…
Rien van Tilborg’s TCA810, ANATOMY OF A DISASTER, is a book which, had it been written as a courtroom drama, could proudly take its place along classics like Twelve Angry Men, Witness for the Prosecution, or its eponymous Anatomy of a Murder.
The painstaking process of assiduously assembling the evidence constitutes the spine of this work, and the author’s persistence and dedication to elucidate his subject shines from every page.
Reading it, one is struck by the elegance with which the author documents the events, whether it be by the clarity of the numerous specially created graphs, or the penetrating insights accompanying his discussions of the effects of icing, the relative primitiveness of the navigation systems and radar of the day, altimeter discrepancies, conflicting traffic, unexpected wind forces, and the possibly false engine fire warning which prompted the crew to feather the engine and return to Vancouver.
This work would have been impressive enough simply as a meticulous reconstruction of the events contributing to the crash, but the author expands his theme enormously by presenting it as a human tragedy which concerned so many lives.
I was particularly moved by the story of one of the victims, Major Philip Edwin Gower, MC, plus another passenger who would have missed the flight if it wasn’t for someone’s last minute cancellation, because the two no-shows who had reservations on this flight were me and my friend Larry.
As newly promoted RCN sub-lieutenants, we had taken advantage of the RCAF’s policy to allow armed forces personnel to travel on a standby basis on air force flights, which is how we had successfully hitch-hiked from Shearwater, NS, to Vancouver on leave.
Hoping to return the same way, we remained in touch with the RCAF Air Movements Unit which controlled the seating, but when they informed us that no space was available on Eastbound flights in the foreseeable future, we reluctantly made reservations on TCA flight 810 for the 9th of December, 1956
Though a C119 Boxcar which was loading for Trenton that afternoon at the Air Force base at Sea Island was reported as full, we decided against the odds to stand by.
Our parents drove us to the AMU where we waited as long as we could, but just as we collected our baggage to drive to the South Terminal to board the TCA flight, our names were called.
Rejoicing about saving the fare, we didn’t know the enormity of our luck until the following day.
In spite of my admittedly special interest in this story, my recommendation of this book stands on its literary merit, its particularly handsome design, and the author’s integrity in his examination of every possible scrap of evidence which amply justifies those twenty years of toil devoted to its execution.
See other great aviation books at: www.coastdogpress.com.