Northrop N-3PB - Accidents and Incidents

Accidents and Incidents

During flight training at "Little Norway", there were several accidents resulting in the death of students and instructors. The FTL lost three N-3PBs in Canada in fatal crashes, two in British Columbia when the harbour in Toronto was frozen, at RCAF Jericho Beach Flying Boat Station near Vancouver and Patricia Bay, Vancouver Island, along with the aircraft involved in the ferry boat accident at Island Harbour.

On 20 June 1941, while taking off, a N-3PB collided with the ferry Sam McBride in Port Race, Toronto Harbour, killing both the student pilot and instructor. The Toronto Star newspaper wrote that it was "a matter of time before one of the Norwegian aircraft crashes in the city itself." This fear, along with it being impractical to have flight training in the same place as the current civil aviation operations, precipitated a move to a new camp in Muskoka, Ontario. At the new location, both ab-initio and advanced level training could take place, while advanced flight training continued at Island Airport.

No. 330(N) Squadron also had notable accidents and fatalities, including its first operational loss when a N-3PB on a navigational training flight disappeared over the North Atlantic on 30 July 1941. Attrition through accidents began to decimate the squadron's operational fleet; N-3PB (c/n 311) was damaged beyond repair on 16 September 1942, when depth charges accidentally released and detonated while the aircraft was moored at Budareyi.A total of 11 of the "Northrops" were lost with 12 casualties, including the squadron commander Cmdr. Hans Bugge and his crew who failed to return from an antisubmarine sweep on 25 August 1942. Despite an intensive search, no trace of the aircraft or crew was ever found.