Talk:Grumman G-21 Goose

Hatch in nose

The British Guiana Government Airways (sometime referred to as the B.G.-St. Vincent Govt. Airways) Grumman Goose (pictured on the main page) certainly had a hatch in the nose which could be left open during flight as it was one of the great thrills of my childhood to stand there during landings and take-offs while my father piloted the plane. Does anyone know what model(s) had this hatch? BTW - the service used to run in the 1950s from Georgetown, B.G. to Piarco airport in Trinidad to Bequia (sometimes) to St. Vincent and back. I don't know how frequently. Also, if I remember correctly, the airline had two Gooses. Cheers, John Hill (talk) 04:52, 30 August 2008 (UTC)

November 16th Crash

Seven people died and one man was in hospital with severe burns after their plane slammed into a steep hillside on the Sunshine Coast Sunday, marking the second deadly crash for Pacific Coastal Airlines in just four months. The pilot and seven men were aboard a Grumman Goose amphibious aircraft en route from Vancouver to Powell River - and ultimately a Plutonic Power work camp at Toba Inlet - when the plane crashed on south Thormanby Island and burst into flames. The lone survivor, who was dozing when the plane crashed shortly after 10:30 a.m., managed to escape the mangled wreckage and scramble for two-and-a-half hours down an often steep, rugged and dense creek bed toward the beach.

Members of a Coast Guard Auxiliary vessel, which was scouring the shoreline of the remote island, noticed the man - who was shirtless and draped loosely in a yellow sheet - as he straggled through the thick bush toward them. The coast guard members exchanged shouts with the man, who was in intense pain, before hauling him into their Zodiac and wrapping him in warm clothes. "His face and hands and chest were burnt and he was lacerated here and there," Coast Guard auxiliary spokesman Drew McKee said. "He was in shock. "It was a lot of stamina to come all that distance and not really knowing where he was going. It looks pretty rough - thick, dense and steep in some places. He had quite a job getting down." McKee said the man, who was a passenger in the Grumman Goose, told them he may have been knocked out for a minute before he woke up and fled the plane, which was in pieces. As he scrambled away, the plane exploded into a ball of flames. The other passengers and pilot were still on board. The man was taken to Half Moon Bay for treatment and was initially admitted to St. Mary's Hospital in Sechelt before being transferred to Vancouver General Hospital. "He was really lucky to come out of it," McKee said, adding he wouldn't have encountered any homes or cabins on his walk out. "I was just glad we were able to help someone get out of there." B.C. Ambulance Service Supt. Pascal Rodier said the man suffered severe injuries, burns and multi-system trauma. His name was not immediately released. "They were treating him pretty aggressively to try and control the pain," Rodier said. Rescue crews and paramedics swarmed to Half Moon Bay and fanned out along the Sunshine Coast shortly before 1 p.m. after a Thormanby Island resident called police with reports that he had heard what he believed to be a plane crash. Extra ambulances were ferried across from North Vancouver to aid local paramedics along with a B.C. Ambulance rescue helicopter, an RCMP patrol vessel, a coast guard hovercraft and Westcoast Marine Services. The Sechelt Search and Rescue team and island residents also helped scour the area. Victoria Rescue Coordination Centre spokesman Wayne Bamford said the coast guard began its search when the flight, which left at 10:15 a.m., was reported overdue on Sunday afternoon. McKee said although the water was flat and the day overcast, making it easy for searchers to spot the lone survivor, the crash site itself was socked in by heavy mist. He said rescuers could only see a silhouette of the Cormorant helicopter as it lowered rescuers to the crash site east of Spyglass Hill. Rodier said people on the island reportedly heard the crash of metal and saw the plane explode. The seven were confirmed dead Sunday afternoon. "When [rescuers] located the wreckage it was burning. ... It was fully involved," Rodier said, adding it was difficult for rescue crews to get close because of the heat and flames. The plane was still burning Sunday evening. RCMP said the airspace around Thormanby Island had been declared a "no fly zone" except for authorized aircraft. The site of the crash was also under guard. Spencer Smith, vice-president of Pacific Coastal, said it was too early to say what caused the crash. He said the pilot, who was 50 years old, was experienced, with more than 12,000 hours of flying time. "He was certainly not a rookie in the air," Smith said. The plane was heading to Toba Inlet where the men were to work for Plutonic Power, a green-energy company developing several run-of-river hydroelectric projects in B.C. Its flagship project, the 196-megawatt East Toba and Montrose project, is currently under construction, with operations to begin in 2010. About 297 people work at the camp. Donald McInnes, CEO and chairman of Plutonic Power, said he was told of the crash around midday Sunday. He said the flight was chartered by Peter Kiewit & Sons' Inc. for work on the hydro project. "It was one of my worst nightmares coming together," McInnes said. "At this point we're very regretful for what happened and we're working on getting in touch with everyone's families." McInnes said Plutonic Power has been working at the site for the past 18 months and sees three flights a day coming in from with supplies and people. He wouldn't say what jobs the passengers were expected to do at the site. "We're not focusing on the impact on the jobs," he said. "We want to help the families of the people involved." Bill Yearwood, spokesman for the Transportation Safety Board, said the plane had exploded into a mass of burning wreckage, and it was too early to come to any conclusions about the cause. TSB investigators were to visit the site this morning to continue the investigation. It was the second time since mid-year that rescue crews have been called to a crash involving a Grumman Goose operated by Pacific Coastal Airlines. In August, a Grumman Goose G21A amphibious plane disappeared 10 minutes after takeoff on a routine flight from Port Hardy to a logging camp at Chamiss Bay, near Kyuquot Inlet. The charred wreckage was found hours later in dense brush on a hillside north of Port Alice. Five people died in that crash while two survived, including Bob Pomponio of Campbell River, who was able to send text messages from his cellphone to guide rescuers to the remote crash site. Both surviving men were part of a crew of six workers with Seaspan International headed to Chamiss Bay to load logs onto barges. At the time, police suggested that crash was caused by a stalled engine, but Yearwood said engine malfunction had been ruled out. A final report has not yet been drafted. Yearwood said it was unfortunate that Pacific Coastal had suffered two crashes in such a short time, but added that the safety board had not been called in to investigate the company for years before that. Smith said "you can't even begin to imagine" what the company is going through with the latest crash. The family-run business, based in Vancouver with 400 employees, has been operating since 1987. It runs several flights daily up and down the rugged coastline, which is a "standard route for us," Smith said. "Two incidents. ... It's our worst year we've ever had." The Pacific Coastal website says the Grumman Goose was first flown in 1937. Only 345 were built, but a number still operate in coastal areas due to their rugged construction and amphibious capability.

I've removed the above text from the article for the following reasons -

1. It is unreferenced, and possibly a copyvio.
2. It is far too detailed for an article on the Grumman Goose. Mention of both Pacific Coastal Airway crashes could be briefly included in an "Accidents and incidents" section in the article. ( Done)
3. It could form its own article as the crash meets WP:AIRCRASH criteria of

Air carrier criteria:

• It involves a scheduled or charter air carrier and results in serious injury or loss of life.
• It is a non-injury incident which materially contributes to a change in industry or aircraft procedures.
• It is the result of military or terrorist action, including hijacking, against a civilian target
• It is the first or worst accident for a particular airline or airliner

but would need referencing. Mjroots (talk) 06:34, 18 November 2008 (UTC)

Single Engine Goose

I've seen photos of a single-engine goose. The engine appears to be a P&W R1820, and was mounted on a pylon above the fuselage. Appears to have RAAF markings, and so must have been used in Europe in early WW2. Australian variations of aircraft often had double-wasps, as they were locally manufactured by P&W. The Australian S-25 Sunderland is an example.220.244.72.136 (talk) 06:51, 22 February 2013 (UTC)