The Whitehorse Star, Monday, July 15, 1953

FIVE KILLED IN AIR CRASH

Plane Burst into Flames When It Struck the Ground

Four Whitehorse RCMP officers and a prisoner were killed Saturday evening when a Beaver aircraft crashed and burned in Carmacks.

Dead are pilots Sgt. K.M. Laughland, in his early thirties; Cp. R.W. Asbil, 29; Const. P.L.A. Malcolm, 29; Const. W.J.L. Annand, 27 and prisoner Joseph Phillipe Clement Desormeaux, 56.

Desormeaux was a time-serving prisoner who had appeared as a witness in a contested court case at Mayo and was being returned to Whitehorse when the crash occurred.

The Whitehorse Air detachment RCMP aircraft CF MPO was apparently landing in Carmacks on police business. It crashed in a bank just below the Mayo Road at a location approximately in between the Territorial Garage and the Carmacks bridge.

Police said the crash happened about 8:10 p.m. No cause for the accident has been established but a Department Transportation investigating team has been flown in from Edmonton to search the wreckage.

Word of the mishap shook the Yukon because the men were well-known to many residents. The Whitehorse Star joins those grieving today as a consequence of the tragic death of the men.

One year ago, four men died in a plane crash on a mountain-side about 25 miles south of Whitehorse. Pilot Jim Thatcher and passengers George Bodnryk, Bob Davis and Frank Martin were flying in a Cessna 180. That mishap occurred about the same time of night as the Carmacks crash. It was on July 18.

Police said present indications do not point toward an inquest but a police board of inquiry will be conducted.

Laughland's parents live at Underhill, Man. Asbil's parents are at Rawson, Quebec; Malcolm's mother is at Manchester, Conn.; Annand's parents are at Summerstown, Ont. and Desormeaux's wife lives in Winnipeg. Laughland, Asbil and Malcolm are also married.

The Whitehorse Star, August 5, 1953

CAUSE UNKNOWN IN AIR CRASH

An inquest jury has found that four RCMP officers and a prisoner en route to Whitehorse from Mayo died in an aircraft crash at Carmacks through causes unknown.

The RCMP Beaver aircraft rolled over and spun into the ground July 15, according to information given at the inquest.

Killed were pilot Sgt. K.M. Laughland, Cpl. R.W. Asbil, Const. P.L.A. Malcolm, Const. W.J.D. Annand and Joseph Phillipe Clement Desormeaux. The prisoner was serving time and contested court case at Mayo before coming on the return trip to Whitehorse when the tragedy occurred.

Whitehorse city detachment Staff-Sergeant Coombs was notified of the accident and immediately flew into the area. He also identified the bodies when the inquest jury first met on July 15.

Evidence given by forest ranger Fred Stretch of Carmacks indicated that the aircraft was making a second circle of the area when it rolled into the bank just below the Mayo road. He was going to his radio to try and signal to the plane when it crashed.

A territorial government employee, Norman Oliver Woodcock was one of the first persons on the scene. He told the inquest jury that he heard the plane when it was apparently making the second circle of the area and then he heard the crash. He said he ran outside and saw smoke from behind the garage but by the time he got to the scene the plane was burning.

A reporter read from the Department of Transport investigator A.J. Clark of Edmonton said: "Nothing was found to indicate any malfunction in the engine, airframe or controls that might have contributed to the accident."

Chuck E. Ford of the Carmacks area mentioned that there is evidence of unusual conditions in the Carmacks basin. Wind may blow in some areas of the basin while the rest of the area is calm.

In bringing back its findings, the jury recommended that the DOT install a windsock in Carmacks in an area it thought best.

The jury was compose of Howie Brunlees, Scott Stevenson, Bob Campbell, George Murdoch, John O'Connor and Lloyd Romfo.

Monday, November 25, 1963

DEDICATION OF PLAQUE MADE IN FRONT OF RCMP DETACHMENT

More than 100 spectators joined with the members of the RCMP and armed services to dedicate a bronze plaque commemorating the death of four RCMP officers earlier this year in the Yukon.

The group stood around the RCMP detachment yard in Whitehorse early Sunday afternoon in 25 degrees below zero temperatures during the brief ceremony. A four mile-an-hour wind below a fine spray of ice particles through the air.

The four officers - Sgt. K.M. Laughland, Cpl. R.W. Asbil, Const. P.L.A. Malcolm and Const. W.J.D. Annand - died when an RCMP aircraft crashed and burned last July 13 at Carmacks on its return trip from Mayo to Whitehorse. The men died instantly.

Officer Commanding Yukon Subdivision Inspector J.L. Vachon opened the dedication service by saying:

"I'm sure that we need no plaque, cairn or monument to keep the memories of the men forever held by us. I feel I am expressing the thoughts of all the members of the Subdivision by saying no finer men than these ever served as members of the RCMP."

In dedicating the plaque, United Church minister Rev. H.P. Marsden said: "The dedication of this plaque is meant to be a reminder to all who pass this way of the bravery and courage of devotion of duty so well expressed in the motto of the Force of which these four were highly respected members, ‘Maintain the Right.'"

He quoted from Lincoln's comments in his dedication in the Field of Gettysburg: "We cannot dedicate. We cannot consecrate. We cannot hallow this ground. The brave men who struggled here have consecrated it far beyond our power to add or detract. It is for us, the living, rather to be dedicated to the unfinished work which they who fought here have thus far so nobly advanced. It is rather for us to be here dedicated to the great task remaining before us, that from these honored dead we may take increased devotion to the cause for which they gave the last full measure of devotion.

The plaque, at the base of the RCMP flagpole, was unveiled by widow of Sgt. Laughland, Denise Laughland.

The dedication was followed by the playing of the Last Post and Reveille. Bishop of the Yukon Right Rev. H.M. Marsh of the Anglican Church of Canada performed the benefit.