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Castlegar Airport
Like
many other sites in the southern BC mountain ranges,
YCG began life as an emergency field that would
serve as an alternate for Crescent Valley and
Columbia Gardens (at Trail). The site chosen in the
late 1930�s to the southeast of the town was at the
time occupied by several Doukhobor
communes which
had to be relocated to accommodate the airport.
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The airfield was improved
somewhat during World War II but remained
little used until 1946, when the City of
Nelson purchased the field and obtained a
temporary licence to operate. In 1947,
Canadian Pacific Airlines began Douglas DC-3
service into the area.
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The
airfield saw continuous improvements over the 1950�s,
including paving of the runway, and the first terminal
building was opened in 1963. In 1969 the
CP Airlines
service was replaced by BC Airlines flying Nord 262
aircraft.
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In 1971, Pacific Western
Airlines took over BC Airlines and began Boeing 737
service into YCG. The airport is currently served by
Air Canada Jazz and operates as West Kootenay Regional
Airport. From 1968 to 2014, it was the site of Selkirk
College�s Aviation program and continues to be the home
of the BC Government�s Southeast Fire Centre.
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The Fire Centre experienced
one significant and memorable tragedy. This
extraordinary photo records the last split second of
Conair Grumman CS2F-1 Firecat C-GHQZ on July 25, 1978 at
Castlegar airport. The aircraft had completed a
demonstration drop of fire suppressant when it entered a
high speed stall, inverted and crashed, killing the
pilot.
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Note: All photos courtesy Chris
Weicht
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British Columbia Aviation Museum Updated:
2023-01-14
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