HEADQUARTERS, U.S. ARMY ALASKA, FORT WAINWRIGHT, Alaska – Thirty years ago today a Canadian C-130 aircraft crashed into a snowbank here and split in two during a landing in a thick, icy fog, killing nine Canadian soldiers heading to a major U.S.-Canadian military exercise.
U.S. Army Alaska, along with Canadian counterparts, will mark the solemn anniversary at 9:45 a.m., Tuesday, Feb. 5, with a memorial ceremony designed to open this year’s Extreme Cold Weather Arctic Symposium and highlight the continuing importance of training in extreme cold weather and high altitude environments.
The aircraft was carrying eight crewmen and 10 special service paratroopers from Edmonton, Alberta, when it crashed just short of the runway at Fort Wainwright’s Ladd Field on the night of Jan. 29, 1989. The soldiers were on their way to Fort Wainwright to participate in Exercise Brim Frost 89. The exercise was designed to test the ability of U.S. and Canadian forces to conduct winter operations. The $15 million exercise involved 26,000 troops, 120 aircraft and 8,000 vehicles. At the time of the crash, a thick, icy fog blanketed the runway and the temperature registered around 60 degrees below zero.
The aircraft was the second of three Canadian planes scheduled to land at Fort Wainwright to participate in a force-on-force phase of the exercise with about 435 paratroopers. The first plane landed safely and the third was diverted to Fairbanks International Airport after the crash.
Rescuers rushed to the crash site without hesitation and found survivors struggling to pull themselves from the wreckage on the frozen ground. Local emergency responders joined Fort Wainwright’s responders in getting the injured to medical care. Bassett Army Community Hospital and Fairbanks Memorial Hospital jumped into action to treat the injured.
Local residents from Fairbanks and Fort Wainwright donated blood as soon as the request went out. They sent flowers and compassionate notes of condolence. They offered assistance if needed. French students from the University of Alaska Fairbanks offered translation services.
The commemoration ceremony will open the 2019 Extreme Cold Weather Arctic Symposium will assess abilities to sustain Soldiers operating in the Arctic, educate attendees on sustainment shortfalls and capability gaps in extreme cold weather operations, and explore viable sustainment solutions.
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