The Rescue 807 Crashes refers to three related aircraft accidents in

Kananaskis Country Kananaskis Country (abbreviated: K-Country) is a multi-use area west of Calgary, Alberta, Canada in the Rocky Mountain Foothills, foothills and front ranges of the Canadian Rockies. Its western edge borders Banff National Park and the Alberta-Br ...

Alberta Alberta is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province in Canada. It is a part of Western Canada and is one of the three Canadian Prairies, prairie provinces. Alberta is bordered by British Columbia to its west, Saskatchewan to its east, t ...

on 6 and 14 June 1986. Two aircraft crashed on separate days while searching for the first aircraft. All 13 people on board the three aircraft were killed and subsequently three mountain lakes were named Memorial Lakes in remembrance of those who lost their lives. Rescue 807 Crashes

The first crash

A Cessna 182-R (some sources say

Cessna 185 The Cessna 185 Skywagon is a six-seat, single-engined, general aviation light aircraft manufactured by Cessna. It first flew as a prototype in July 1960, with the first production model completed in March 1961. The Cessna 185 is a high-winge ...

) piloted by Ken Wolff was transporting Orval Pall, a

wildlife biologist A wildlife biologist studies animals and their behavior along with the role each animal plays in its natural habitat. The duties of a wildlife biologist can include: developing and conducting experiments/studies on animals in their natural habitat ...

, over the Kananaskis Country, part of the

Rocky Mountains The Rocky Mountains, also known as the Rockies, are a major mountain range and the largest mountain system in North America. The Rocky Mountains stretch in great-circle distance, straight-line distance from the northernmost part of Western Can ...

on 6 June 1986 as part of a project monitoring

bighorn sheep The bighorn sheep (''Ovis canadensis'') is a species of Ovis, sheep native to North America. It is named for its large Horn (anatomy), horns. A pair of horns may weigh up to ; the sheep typically weigh up to . Recent genetic testing indicates th ...

. Nearby

Calgary Calgary () is a major city in the Canadian province of Alberta. As of 2021, the city proper had a population of 1,306,784 and a metropolitan population of 1,481,806 making it the third-largest city and fifth-largest metropolitan area in C ...

had been chosen to host the

1988 Winter Olympics The 1988 Winter Olympics, officially known as the XV Olympic Winter Games () and commonly known as Calgary 1988 were a multi-sport event held from February 13 to 28, 1988, with Calgary, Calgary, Alberta as the main host city. This marks the m ...

and efforts were under way to track the Games' impact on Mount Allan (

Nakiska Nakiska is a ski resort in western Canada, in the Kananaskis Country region of the province of Alberta. It is located from Calgary, west on Highway 1 (Trans-Canada Highway) and south on Highway 40 (Kananaskis Trail). "Nakiska" is a Cree word me ...

). The plane crashed on a forested slope of

Mount Kidd Mount Kidd is a double-summit massif centrally located in Kananaskis Country in the Canadian Rockies of Alberta, Canada. Mount Kidd is situated within Spray Valley Provincial Park, and its nearest higher neighbor is Mount Sparrowhawk, to the ...

and was difficult to find due to being broken into pieces and scattered beneath the canopy. The pilot's friends began searching within hours of the plane's disappearance.

The second crash

Shortly after Wolff's plane was reported missing, a search effort was hastily started by air. A

piloted by Bruce Pratt with two spotters crashed soon thereafter into

Mount Lougheed Mount Lougheed is a triple-peak mountain located between Spray Lakes Reservoir and the Wind Valley of Kananaskis Country in the Canadian Rockies of Alberta, Canada. The highest summit is known as Peak 2 (3,107 metres). Peak 1 to the northwest is ...

, killing all three. Like the first plane, no one saw the plane crash, so it was unknown if any passengers survived.

The search for the first two crashes

Several agencies formed search groups on both the ground and in the air to find the two missing planes. The Canadian Air Force also joined the

search and rescue Search and rescue (SAR) is the search for and provision of aid to people who are in distress or imminent danger. The general field of search and rescue includes many specialty sub-fields, typically determined by the type of terrain the search ...

operations with multiple aircraft. Hundreds of volunteers also searched on the ground. Foul weather hampered search efforts, but on 9 June the plane piloted by Bruce Pratt was found.

The third crash, Twin Otter 807

At 14:52 (MDT) on 14 June, eight days after the first two aircraft went down, a

Canadian Armed 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 ...

de Havilland Canada DHC-6 Twin Otter The de Havilland Canada DHC-6 Twin Otter is a Canadian STOL (Short Takeoff and Landing) utility aircraft developed by de Havilland Canada in the mid-1960s and still in production today. Built by De Havilland Canada from 1965 to 1988, Viking ...

with 8 people on board, crashed "starting a small forest fire". The accident was caused by an

illusion An illusion is a distortion of the senses, which can reveal how the mind normally organizes and interprets sensory stimulation. Although illusions distort the human perception of reality, they are generally shared by most people. Illusions may ...

where the sun's high angle and lack of shadow on the terrain caused the pilot to perceive the mountain's distance deceptively far away.{{cite journal , title=Aviation Investigation Report A03P0194 , journal=The Transportation Safety Board of Canada , date=2003-07-16 , url=http://www.bst-tsb.gc.ca/eng/rapports-reports/aviation/2003/a03p0194/a03p0194.asp , accessdate=2016-11-25

Aftermath

Ken Wolff and Orval Pall were found on 18 June 1986. They had not survived the crash."Alberta Wilderness & Wildlife Trust - Alberta Wilderness Association"
''Alberta Wilderness Association''. N.p., n.d. Web. 25 Nov 2016. The three lakes in the area were re-named "Memorial Lakes" by the Government of Alberta and a

cairn A cairn is a human-made pile (or stack) of stones raised for a purpose, usually as a marker or as a burial mound. The word ''cairn'' comes from the (plural ). Cairns have been and are used for a broad variety of purposes. In prehistory, t ...

commemorating the crash was installed next to the highest altitude lake.

References

Aviation accidents and incidents in 1986 Aviation accidents and incidents in Canada June 1986 in Canada 1986 in Alberta