| As air travel became more accessible in the 1920's,
some of the more affluent guests began to arrive at Alta Lake in chartered
aircraft. However, travel via this relatively new mode of transportation
was not always safe. This fact was illustrated on July 31st 1935, when there
was a terrible plane crash up at Alta Lake. The plane had been heading north
and was piloted by W.R. McCluskey, the manager of Pioneer Airways. He carried
two passengers, Dean R.W. Brock and David Sloan, two friends who had chartered
the aircraft to take them from Vancouver up to Gunn
Lake, just past the Pemberton Valley. The plane, known as a Boeing flying
boat, left Wells Air Harbor on the Fraser River at 3:15 in the afternoon.
The trio's plan was to touch down briefly at Alta Lake to pick up Mrs. Brock,
who had been on holiday at Rainbow Lodge with her family. |
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| At that time, Alta Lake was known by aviators as a
difficult place to take-off due to the "short run possible and the
barrier of trees at the end, necessitating an extremely high lift to enable
a loaded plane to get off safely." Rather than risk danger, most pilots
chose to land on Green
Lake because it was much bigger, provided a long runway, and was situated
only a few kilometers north of Alta Lake. However, for unknown reasons McCluskey
decided to land on Alta Lake that day. After stopping at Rainbow Lodge for
Mrs. Brock, the plane took off to the south along the water. However, McCluskey
was unable to lift the plane high enough. When he realized that the plane
was going to hit the trees, he quickly attempted to turn the plane around
and re-land on the lake. |
| "According to eye-witness stories of the disaster,
McCluskey opened out his motor to full throttle and roared down the lake
to take off over the south end, but realized after lifting from the water
that he could not gain sufficient altitude in time to clear the trees. He
banked sharply in a desperate effort to avoid the inevitable crash and bring
his loaded plane around again and land on the lake.... His plane, losing
speed on the turn, side-slipped and plunged to the earth." (Vancouver
Sun) |
| McCluskey and Brock, who were sitting in the cockpit,
were killed upon impact. Mrs. Brock and Mr. Sloan were not killed in the
crash but were severely injured. Having a plane land on Alta Lake was a
big deal in those days, so most of the Alta Lake community members were
watching when the accident happened. Guests and staff from Rainbow Lodge,
the Philips, and many others quickly rushed to the scene to help. An emergency
speeder train was immediately dispatched while two doctors who had been
holidaying at Rainbow Lodge did their best to comfort the injured. However,
Mrs. Brock's injuries were unbearable and she died en-route to Vancouver.
Mr. Sloan also passed away ten days later in Vancouver General Hospital. |
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| The accident was witnessed not only by guests and
staff from Rainbow Lodge, but also by two of the Brock's sons, David and
Tommy, who were seeing their mother off at the end of their family holiday.
Despite the tragedy, the Brocks were regular guests at the lodge and their
sons, in particular Philip (Pip) Brock, continued to visit Myrtle and Alex
long after the accident. |
"Dean Brock of U.B.C., wife and pilot killed
in Alta Lake air crash."
"Swift death came to two prominent Vancouver residents at 4:15 Tuesday
afternoon, a third died en route to hospital, and a fourth lies critically
injured in Vancouver General Hospital as the result of a flying boat crash
at Alta Lake." (Vancouver Sun, July 31, 1935) |
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