Canadian Forces Base Goose Bay , commonly referred to as CFB Goose Bay, is a Canadian Forces Base located in the municipality of Happy Valley-Goose Bay in the province of

Newfoundland and Labrador Newfoundland and Labrador is the easternmost province of Canada, in the country's Atlantic region. The province comprises the island of Newfoundland and the continental region of Labrador, having a total size of . As of 2025 the populatio ...

. It is operated as an air force base by the

Royal Canadian Air Force The Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF; ) is the air and space force of Canada. Its role is to "provide the Canadian Forces with relevant, responsive and effective airpower". The RCAF is one of three environmental commands within the unified Can ...

(RCAF). Its primary RCAF lodger unit is 5 Wing, commonly referred to as 5 Wing Goose Bay. The airfield at CFB Goose Bay is also used by civilian aircraft, with civilian operations at the base referring to the facility as Goose Bay Airport. The airport is classified as an

airport of entry In general, a port of entry (POE) is a place where one may lawfully enter a country. It typically has border security staff and facilities to check passports and visas and to inspect luggage to assure that contraband is not imported. Internatio ...

Nav Canada Nav Canada (styled as NAV CANADA) is a privately run, non-profit corporation that owns and operates Canada's civil air navigation system (ANS). It was established by statute in accordance with the ''Civil Air Navigation Services Commercializati ...

and is staffed by the

Canada Border Services Agency The Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA; , ''ASFC'') is a federal law enforcement agency that is responsible for border guard, border control (i.e. protection and surveillance), immigration enforcement, and Customs, customs services in Canada. ...

(CBSA). CBSA officers at this airport can handle

general aviation General aviation (GA) is defined by the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) as all civil aviation aircraft operations except for commercial air transport or aerial work, which is defined as specialized aviation services for other ...

aircraft only, with no more than 15 passengers. The mission of 5 Wing is to support the defence of North American airspace, as well as to support the RCAF and allied air forces in training. Two units compose 5 Wing: 444 Combat Support Squadron (flying the CH-146 Griffon) and 5 Wing Air Reserve Flight. CFB Goose Bay also serves as a forward operating location for RCAF

CF-18 Hornet The McDonnell Douglas CF-18 Hornet (official military designation CF-188) is a Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF) variant of the American McDonnell Douglas F/A-18 Hornet fighter aircraft. In 1980, the F/A-18 was selected as the winner of the New ...

aircraft and the base and surrounding area is occasionally used to support units of the

Canadian Army The Canadian Army () is the command (military formation), command responsible for the operational readiness of the conventional ground forces of the Canadian Armed Forces. It maintains regular forces units at bases across Canada, and is also re ...

during training exercises.

History

While the flat and relatively weather-favoured area around North West River had for years been under consideration for an airport for the anticipated North Atlantic air routes, it was not until Eric Fry of the Dominion Geodetic Survey investigated the area on 1July 1941 that the Goose Bay location was selected. Fry beat by three days a similar

United States Army Air Forces The United States Army Air Forces (USAAF or AAF) was the major land-based aerial warfare service component of the United States Army and ''de facto'' aerial warfare service branch of the United States during and immediately after World War II ...

(USAAF) survey team under Captain

Elliott Roosevelt Elliott Roosevelt may refer to: * Elliott Roosevelt (socialite) (1860–1894), American socialite, father-in-law of President Franklin D. Roosevelt, father of Eleanor Roosevelt, younger brother of President Theodore Roosevelt, and grandfather of G ...

; the American team had first investigated nearby Epinette Point before joining Fry at the sandy plains that would become Goose Bay. These surveys used amphibious aircraft that landed at the Grenfell Mission; from there the teams explored by boat. Eric Fry recalled: "The airport is actually located on the plateau at the west end of Terrington Basin but it is only five miles inland from the narrows between Goose Bay and Terrington Basin. Having a RCAF Station Gander in Newfoundland I suggested we call the Labrador site Goose Bay airport and the suggestion was accepted." Under pressure from Britain and the United States the Canadian Air Ministry worked at a record pace, and by November, three gravel runways were ready. The first land aircraft movement was recorded on 9 December 1941. By spring of 1942 the base, now carrying the wartime codename "Alkali", was bursting with air traffic destined for the United Kingdom. In time, the USAAF and the

Royal Air Force The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the Air force, air and space force of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. It was formed towards the end of the World War I, First World War on 1 April 1918, on the merger of t ...

(RAF) each developed sections of the triangular base for their own use, but the airport remained under overall Canadian control despite its location in the

Dominion of Newfoundland Newfoundland was a British dominion in eastern North America, today the modern Canadian province of Newfoundland and Labrador. It included the island of Newfoundland, and Labrador on the continental mainland. Newfoundland was one of the orig ...

, not yet a part of Canada. The 99-year lease arrangement with the United Kingdom was not finalized until October 1944.

Aerodrome

In approximately 1942 the aerodrome was listed as RCAF Aerodrome – Goose Bay, Labrador at with a variation of 35 degrees west and elevation of . The field was listed as "all hard-surfaced" and had three runways listed as follows:Staff Writer c.1942, p. 5 The northeast side of the facility was built to be a temporary RCAF base, complete with its own hangars and control tower, while the south side of the facility, built for the Americans, was being upgraded with its own aprons, hangars, earth-covered magazines, control tower and infrastructure. The Canadian and American bases were built as an RCAF station and later a

United States Air Force The United States Air Force (USAF) is the Air force, air service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is one of the six United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. Tracing its ori ...

base known as Goose AB, housing units of the

Strategic Air Command Strategic Air Command (SAC) was a United States Department of Defense Specified Command and a United States Air Force (USAF) Major Command responsible for command and control of the strategic bomber and intercontinental ballistic missile compon ...

and

Aerospace Defense Command Aerospace Defense Command was a major command of the United States Air Force, responsible for air defense of the continental United States. It was activated in 1968 and disbanded in 1980. Its predecessor, Air Defense Command, was establishe ...

. It was later home to permanent detachments of the RAF,

Luftwaffe The Luftwaffe () was the aerial warfare, aerial-warfare branch of the before and during World War II. German Empire, Germany's military air arms during World War I, the of the Imperial German Army, Imperial Army and the of the Imperial Ge ...

, Aeronautica Militare, and

Royal Netherlands Air Force The Royal Netherlands Air Force (RNLAF; , "Royal Air Force") is the military aviation branch of the Netherlands Armed Forces. It was created in 1953 to succeed its predecessor, the ''Luchtvaartafdeling'' () of the Dutch Army, which was founded ...

, in addition to temporary deployments from several other NATO countries.

Cold War history

1950 – The Rivière-du-Loup Incident

Goose Air Base was the site of the first US nuclear weapons in Canada, when in 1950 the

(SAC) stationed 11 model 1561 Fat Man and Mark 4 atomic bombs at the base in the summer, and flew them out in December. While returning to

Davis–Monthan Air Force Base Davis–Monthan Air Force Base (DM AFB) is a United States Air Force base southeast of downtown Tucson, Arizona. It was established in 1925 as Davis–Monthan Landing Field. The host unit for Davis–Monthan AFB is the 355th Wing (355 WG) ass ...

with one of the bombs on board, a USAF B-50 heavy bomber encountered engine trouble, had to drop, and conventionally (non-nuclear) detonate, the bomb over the St. Lawrence, contaminating the river with

uranium-238 Uranium-238 ( or U-238) is the most common isotope of uranium found in nature, with a relative abundance of 99%. Unlike uranium-235, it is non-fissile, which means it cannot sustain a chain reaction in a thermal-neutron reactor. However, it i ...

1954 – Construction of the Strategic Air Command Weapons Storage Area

Construction of SAC's Weapons Storage Area at Goose Air Base was officially completed in 1954. The area was surrounded by two fences, topped with barbed wire. It was the highest security area in Goose Air Base and comprised * One guard house * One administration building * Three warehouses (base spares #1, base spares #2, supply warehouse) * Six guard towers * One plant group building * Five earth-covered magazines for non-nuclear weapon storage * Four earth-covered magazines for " pit" storage (constructed with vaults and shelving to store pit "birdcages") The design and layout of the Goose Air Base weapons storage area was identical, with only slight modifications for weather and terrain, to the three SAC weapons storage areas in

Morocco Morocco, officially the Kingdom of Morocco, is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It has coastlines on the Mediterranean Sea to the north and the Atlantic Ocean to the west, and has land borders with Algeria to Algeria–Morocc ...

located at Sidi Slimane Air Base, Ben Guerir Air Base, and Nouasseur Air Base, which were constructed between 1951 and 1952 as overseas operational storage sites. The last nuclear bomb components that were being stored at the Goose Air Base weapons storage area were removed in June 1971.

1958 – Construction of the Air Defence Command ammunition storage area

Construction of the Air Defence Command ammunition storage area at Goose Air Base was completed in 1958. This extension to the SAC weapons storage area was built directly beside the previously constructed area, with a separate entrance. The buildings built within the area were: * Three storage buildings * One guardhouse * One missile assembly building. The storage was being built to accommodate components of the GAR-11/AIM-26 "Nuclear" Falcon, which is normally stored in pieces, requiring assembly before use.

1976 – Departure of the USAF Strategic Air Command and closure of Goose AB

The former U.S. facilities were re-designated CFB Goose Bay (the second time this facility name has been used). The value of the airfield and facilities built and improved by the USAF since 1953 and transferred to Canada were estimated in excess of US$250 million (equivalent to $ billion today). By 1976 all SAC assets had been stood down, and only USAF logistical and transport support remained.

1980 – Multinational low-level flying training stepped up

In response to lessons learned from the

Vietnam War The Vietnam War (1 November 1955 – 30 April 1975) was an armed conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia fought between North Vietnam (Democratic Republic of Vietnam) and South Vietnam (Republic of Vietnam) and their allies. North Vietnam w ...

and the growing sophistication of

Soviet The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

anti-aircraft radar and

surface-to-air missile A surface-to-air missile (SAM), also known as a ground-to-air missile (GTAM) or surface-to-air guided weapon (SAGW), is a missile designed to be launched from the ground or the sea to destroy aircraft or other missiles. It is one type of anti-ai ...

technology being deployed in Europe,

NATO The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO ; , OTAN), also called the North Atlantic Alliance, is an intergovernmental organization, intergovernmental Transnationalism, transnational military alliance of 32 Member states of NATO, member s ...

allies began looking at new doctrines in the 1970s–1980s which mandated low-level flight to evade detection. CFB Goose Bay's location in

Labrador Labrador () is a geographic and cultural region within the Canadian province of Newfoundland and Labrador. It is the primarily continental portion of the province and constitutes 71% of the province's area but is home to only 6% of its populatio ...

, with a population of around 30,000 and area of , made it an ideal location for low-level flight training. Labrador's sparse settlement and a local topography similar to parts of the Soviet Union, in addition to proximity to European NATO nations caused CFB Goose Bay to grow and become the primary low-level tactical training area for several NATO air forces during the 1980s. The increased low-level flights by fighter aircraft was not without serious controversy as the

Innu The Innu/Ilnu ('man, person'), formerly called Montagnais (French for ' mountain people'; ), are the Indigenous Canadians who inhabit northeastern Labrador in present-day Newfoundland and Labrador and some portions of Quebec. They refer to ...

Nation protested these operations vociferously, claiming that the noise of aircraft travelling at

supersonic Supersonic speed is the speed of an object that exceeds the speed of sound (Mach 1). For objects traveling in dry air of a temperature of 20 °C (68 °F) at sea level, this speed is approximately . Speeds greater than five times ...

speeds in close proximity to the ground was adversely affecting wildlife, namely

caribou The reindeer or caribou (''Rangifer tarandus'') is a species of deer with circumpolar distribution, native to Arctic, subarctic, tundra, boreal, and mountainous regions of Northern Europe, Siberia, and North America. It is the only represe ...

, and was a nuisance to their way of life on their traditional lands. During the 1980s–1990s, CFB Goose Bay hosted permanent detachments from the Royal Air Force,

(RNLAF), and the Aeronautica Militare, in addition to temporary deployments from several other NATO countries. The permanent RNLAF detachment left CFB Goose Bay in the 1990s, although temporary training postings have been held since. Goose Bay was an attractive training facility for these air forces in light of the high population concentration in their countries, as well as numerous laws preventing low-level flying. The bombing range is larger than several European countries.

1983 – The Space Shuttle ''Enterprise'' visits

In 1983, a

NASA The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA ) is an independent agencies of the United States government, independent agency of the federal government of the United States, US federal government responsible for the United States ...

Boeing 747 The Boeing 747 is a long-range wide-body aircraft, wide-body airliner designed and manufactured by Boeing Commercial Airplanes in the United States between 1968 and 2023. After the introduction of the Boeing 707, 707 in October 1958, Pan Am ...

transport aircraft carrying the Space Shuttle ''Enterprise'' landed at CFB Goose Bay to refuel on its way to a European tour where the prototype shuttle was then displayed in France and the United Kingdom. This was the first time that a U.S.

Space Shuttle The Space Shuttle is a retired, partially reusable launch system, reusable low Earth orbital spacecraft system operated from 1981 to 2011 by the U.S. National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) as part of the Space Shuttle program. ...

ever "landed" outside the United States.

1988 – Long-range radar closure

In 1988, the Pinetree Line radar site ( Melville Air Station) adjacent to CFB Goose Bay was closed.

Post-Cold War history

1990 – Gulf War

Goose Bay experienced a significant increase in traffic volume from USAF Military Airlift Command (MAC) during August 1990 due to

Operation Desert Shield , combatant2 = , commander1 = , commander2 = , strength1 = Over 950,000 soldiers3,113 tanks1,800 aircraft2,200 artillery systems , page = https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/GAOREPORTS-PEMD-96- ...

and

Operation Desert Storm Operation or Operations may refer to: Arts, entertainment and media * ''Operation'' (game), a battery-operated board game that challenges dexterity * Operation (music), a term used in musical set theory * ''Operations'' (magazine), Multi-Man ...

. At one point, MAC flights arrived at an average rate of two per hour; the normal rate was two to three per month. Part of the increase may have been driven by Hurricane Bertha, which occurred at the same time. The USAF deployed additional personnel to the base to assist managing the increased volume. Overall, operations proceeded smoothly as it resembled previous high-volume airlifts like Exercise Reforger.

1993 – Base Rescue Flight and 444 Combat Support Squadron

To provide rescue and range support to the jet aircraft operating from Goose Bay, the

Canadian Forces The Canadian Armed Forces (CAF; , FAC) are the unified Military, military forces of Canada, including sea, land, and air commands referred to as the Royal Canadian Navy, Canadian Army and the Royal Canadian Air Force. Under the ''National Defenc ...

provided a Base Rescue Flight consisting of three CH-135 Twin Huey helicopters. In 1993 the Base Rescue Flight was re-badged as 444 Combat Support Squadron and continued to operate the same fleet of three helicopters. In 1996 the CH-135s were replaced with three CH-146 Griffon helicopters.

2001 – 9/11 Operation Yellow Ribbon

On 11 September 2001, CFB Goose Bay hosted seven trans-Atlantic commercial airliners which were diverted to land as part of Operation Yellow Ribbon, following the closure of North American airspace as a result of the 9/11 terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center in

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

and the

Pentagon In geometry, a pentagon () is any five-sided polygon or 5-gon. The sum of the internal angles in a simple polygon, simple pentagon is 540°. A pentagon may be simple or list of self-intersecting polygons, self-intersecting. A self-intersecting ...

Washington, D.C. Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from Virginia, and shares land borders with ...

It was also the first Canadian airport to receive diverted aircraft.

2005 – Cessation of Multinational Low Level Flying Training

In 2004 the RAF announced its intent to close the permanent RAF detachment, effective 31 March 2005. The German and Italian air forces had agreements signed to use the base until 2006, however they were not renewed as of 2004. These air forces still operate at Goose Bay, but plan to initiate simulator training instead. The base continues in its role as a low-level tactical training facility and as a forward deployment location for the RCAF, although the total complement of Canadian Forces personnel numbers less than 100.

2005 – Ballistic missile defence

Labradorian politicians such as former Liberal

Senator A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or Legislative chamber, chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the Ancient Rome, ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior ...

Bill Rompkey have advocated using CFB Goose Bay as a site for a

missile defence Missile defense is a system, weapon, or technology involved in the detection, tracking, interception, and also the destruction of attacking missiles. Conceived as a defense against nuclear-armed intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs), ...

radar system being developed by the

United States Department of Defense The United States Department of Defense (DoD, USDOD, or DOD) is an United States federal executive departments, executive department of the federal government of the United States, U.S. federal government charged with coordinating and superv ...

. Executives from defence contractor

Raytheon Raytheon is a business unit of RTX Corporation and is a major U.S. defense contractor and industrial corporation with manufacturing concentrations in weapons and military and commercial electronics. Founded in 1922, it merged in 2020 with Unite ...

have surveyed CFB Goose Bay as a suitable location for deploying such a radar installation.

Airlines and destinations

Civilian flights use a smaller terminal structure located on Zweibrucken Crescent. A new terminal structure was being built in 2012 to accommodate civilian use. The terminal has a single retail tenant, Flightline Café and Gifts with a

Robin's Donuts Robin's Donuts (commonly shortened to Robin's) is a Canadian chain of over 160 fast food restaurants that operate in every province of Canada except Quebec. A 2017 Maclean's Magazine Poll ranked Robin's as the 7th best coffee chain out of 15 in ...

shop. An increasing number of airliners (especially mid-range aircraft like the

Boeing 757 The Boeing 757 is an American Narrow-body aircraft, narrow-body airliner designed and built by Boeing Commercial Airplanes. The then-named 7N7, a twinjet successor for the trijet Boeing 727, 727, received its first orders in August 1978. The ...

) have resorted to using Goose Bay for unplanned fuel stops, especially common for trans-Atlantic flights impacted by a seasonally strong jet stream over the

North Atlantic The Atlantic Ocean is the second largest of the world's five oceanic divisions, with an area of about . It covers approximately 17% of Earth's surface and about 24% of its water surface area. During the Age of Discovery, it was known for ...

. The majority of civilian airliners using the airfield are not regularly scheduled airlines to this location. Helicopter charters are operated by CHC Helicopter, Cougar Helicopters and Universal Helicopters.

Air Labrador Labrador Airways Limited, operating as Air Labrador, was a regional airline based at the Goose Bay Airport in Happy Valley-Goose Bay, Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada. It operated scheduled daily passenger and freight services throughout Labr ...

was a tenant of the airport until the airline ceased operations in 2017 when it was merged with Innu Mikun Airlines as Air Borealis. It flew mainly from Goose Bay to remote communities in Newfoundland and Labrador and Quebec.

Historical airline service

In 1950, Trans-Canada Air Lines (TCA) was operating round trip transatlantic service via a stop at the airport with a routing of Montreal Dorval - Goose Bay - Glasgow Prestwick - London Airport flown with Canadair North Star aircraft which was a Canadian manufactured version of the Douglas DC-4. By 1962, Trans-Canada was serving Goose Bay with nonstop flights twice a week from Montreal Dorval operated with Vickers Vanguard turboprop aircraft. In 1981, Eastern Provincial Airways was the only airline serving Goose Bay with nonstop Boeing 737-200 jet service from Churchill Falls, Deer Lake, Halifax, Montreal Dorval, St. John's, Stephenville and

Wabush Wabush is a small town in the western tip of Labrador, bordering Quebec, known for transportation and iron ore operations. Economy Wabush is the twin community of Labrador City. At its peak population in the late 1970s, the region had a populati ...

although none of these flights were operated on a daily basis. By 1989,

Canadian Airlines International Canadian Airlines International Ltd. (stylized as Canadi›n Airlines or Canadi‹n Airlines, or simply Canadian) was a major Canadian airline that operated from 1987 until 2001. The airline was Canada's second largest airline after Air Canada ...

was operating nonstop Boeing 737-200 jet service to Montreal Dorval four days a week. On January 23, 2021 Air Canada Express ended service from the airport to Halifax because of reduced demand due to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

. Service returned on April 30, 2022.

Units, squadrons and formations

The principal components of CFB Goose Bay are: * 444 Combat Support Squadron * 5 Wing Air Reserve Flight * Forward Operating Location Goose Bay

Fixed-base operators

The following

fixed-base operator A fixed-base operator (FBO) is an organization granted the right by an airport to operate at the airport and provide aeronautical services such as fueling, hangaring, tie-down, and parking, aircraft rental, aircraft maintenance, flight instruction ...

s (FBOs) are based at CFB Goose Bay: * PAL Airlines * Canadian Helicopters * Universal Helicopters

Contamination

The heavy contamination of the site and surrounding area is the result of decades of military operations. For many years waste material was disposed of on-site . The contamination is mostly due to the waste dumps and substance leaks from storage tanks, pipelines, and equipment. As a result, both the soil and groundwater of the site have been contaminated with polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons,

heavy metals upright=1.2, Crystals of lead.html" ;"title="osmium, a heavy metal nearly twice as dense as lead">osmium, a heavy metal nearly twice as dense as lead Heavy metals is a controversial and ambiguous term for metallic elements with relatively h ...

, and

polychlorinated biphenyls Polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) are organochlorine compounds with the formula C12 H10−''x'' Cl''x''; they were once widely used in the manufacture of carbonless copy paper, as heat transfer fluids, and as dielectric and coolant fluids f ...

, among other hazardous substances. In addition, in 2014 it was estimated that there were over 1 million litres of undissolved petroleum before cleanup began. The contamination is spread over more than 100 individual sites on the base. Over time the contamination has spread from the base itself onto neighbouring private and provincially-owned land. In 2004 the groundwater pollution of the surrounding area had progressed to an extent that the Department of National Defence warned local farmers to avoid using wellwater until further testing was done.

Remediation

Work started on remediation in 2009 and is slated to be finished in 2028. As of 2022, the federal government has spent $142.9 million on remediating the site. One of the dumps has been transformed into an engineered wetland as part of the efforts to filter out contaminants from the water. In addition, over 46,000 m³ of contaminated soil has been cleaned and returned to the site. Over 700,000 litres of hydrocarbons have been recuperated and over 5 million litres of contaminated groundwater have been treated. A number of different technologies have been employed in the site clean-up, such as dual phase vacuum extraction.

Incidents

Source: *On 10 December 1947, a Douglas C-54D-5-DC of the

(USAF) crashed and burned in a wooded area shortly after taking off from Goose Bay resulting in 23 fatalities. *The Boeing B-50 Superfortress of the Rivière-du-Loup nuclear weapon incident on 10 November 1950 departed Goose AFB to return a US Mark 4 nuclear bomb to

. *On 14 May 1951, a RCAF Douglas C-47A-10-DK disintegrated in-flight and crashed killing four crew members. *On 21 July 1952, a RCAF Douglas C-47A-30-DL crashed while engaged on insect spraying operations near Goose Bay. The crew of three were killed. *On 10 April 1956, a RCAF de Havilland Canada U-1A Otter crashed after takeoff on runway 09 killing three. *On 6 July 1956, a USAF Boeing KC-97 Stratofreighter caught fire while descending to Goose AFB on a flight from

Lake Charles, Louisiana Lake Charles is the List of municipalities in Louisiana, fifth-most populous city in the U.S. state of Louisiana, and the county seat, parish seat of Calcasieu Parish, Louisiana, Calcasieu Parish, located on Lake Charles (Louisiana), Lake Char ...

. The airplane crashed 72 km northeast of Goose Bay killing all six crew members. *On 7 November 1964, a USAF Douglas C-133A Cargomaster stalled at full power after takeoff and crashed killing seven crew members. *On 11 October 1984, a de Havilland Canada DHC-6 Twin Otter 100 of Labrador Airways flying on a medevac flight from St. Anthony crashed upon landing at Goose Bay killing four. *On 10 May 1990, a General Dynamics F-16A Fighting Falcon (J-358) of the

(RNLAF) collided in mid-air with another RNLAF F-16A (78-0258, J-258) west of Grand Lake killing its pilot. The pilot of the J-258 ejected safely. *On 8 February 1991, a Cessna 208B Grand Caravan of

Provincial Airlines Provincial may refer to: Government & Administration * Provincial capitals, an administrative sub-national capital of a country * Provincial city (disambiguation) * Provincial minister (disambiguation) * Provincial Secretary, a position in Can ...

impacted the ground on approach to Goose Bay killing the pilot. *On 22 April 1993, a McDonnell Douglas F-4F Phantom II of the

hit the ground while flying a roll at during an airshow practice routine killing both crew. *On 30 September 2017, Air France Flight 66, an Engine Alliance GP7270 powered Airbus A380, safely diverted to the base. * On 14 December 2022, a Piper PA-46 from Sept-Îles to

Nuuk Nuuk (; , formerly ) is the capital and most populous city of Greenland, an autonomous territory in the Kingdom of Denmark. Nuuk is the seat of government and the territory's largest cultural and economic center. It is also the seat of gove ...

crashed west of the airport on approach to runway 08. The two occupants sustained serious injuries and were transported to the local hospital. The pilot later died of his injuries. * On 19 April 2024, Hangar 8 and the old control tower on top of that hangar was destroyed in a structural fire. A survey the next morning found large pieces of metal debris due to explosions inside the hangar.

Historic place

Hangar 8 at CFB Goose Bay was designated as a Canadian historic place in 2004. The old, no longer in use control tower and connected hangar suffered structural damage in a fire in April 2024.

Notes

References

* A Handbook of Aerospace Defense Organization 1946 – 1980, by Lloyd H. Cornett and Mildred W. Johnson, Office of History, Aerospace Defense Center, Peterson Air Force Base, Colorado * Winkler, David F. (1997), Searching the skies: the legacy of the United States Cold War defense radar program. Prepared for United States Air Force Headquarters Air Combat Command.
Information for Melville AS, Goose Bay, NL
* Carr, William G.: ''Checkmate in the North.'' MacMillan, Toronto, 1944. * Christie, Carl A.: ''Ocean Bridge.'' University of Toronto Press, 1995. * Hansen, Chris: ''Enfant Terrible: The Times and Schemes of General Elliott Roosevelt''. Able Baker, Tucson, 2012. * Carr, William G.: ''Checkmate in the North'', 1944 *

External links

*
CFB Goose Bay (5 Wing Goose Bay)
– official site
The MFRC Flyer (CFB Goose Bay newspaper)

Canada's Historic Places – Royal Canadian Air Force Hangar 8 CFB Goose Bay
{{DEFAULTSORT:Cfb Goose Bay Goose Bay

Goose A goose (: geese) is a bird of any of several waterfowl species in the family Anatidae. This group comprises the genera '' Anser'' (grey geese and white geese) and '' Branta'' (black geese). Some members of the Tadorninae subfamily (e.g., Egy ...

Goose Bay Airport Goose Bay Destroyers for Bases Agreement airfields

Installations of Strategic Air Command WAAS reference stations Military airbases in Newfoundland and Labrador RAF(U) Goose Bay Radar stations of the United States Air Force Aerospace Defense Command military installations

1940s establishments in Newfoundland 1941 establishments in North America 1941 establishments in the British Empire NATO installations in Canada Goose Air Force Base Goose Air Force Base