Brian Crocker, Operations Manager Wallace Dobchuk, Chief Pilot
Website
www.borekair.com
Historyedit
The airline was established in 1966 as Vic Turner Ltd[7] which operated a single de Havilland Canada DHC-6 Twin Otter providing air support for oil exploration activities in the Canadian Arctic. Renamed Kenn Borek Air after being purchased by Borek Construction in 1971, the company acquired the Aklavik Flying Services which was founded in April 1947 by Michael Zubko operating a single Aeronca Champion at that time.[8] In 1975 Kenn Borek acquired Kenting Atlas Aviation. Kenting Atlas Aviation had been formed in 1972 with the purchase of Weldy Phipps's Atlas Aviation (established in 1962) by Kenting Aviation.[9] This was the second iteration of the Atlas Aviation name, the first evolving out of the renaming of McGuire Flying School at Uplands Airport, Ottawa, Ontario formed in 1946 by Hugh McGuire.
The company has been operating in Antarctica since 1985.[10]
On 26 April 2001, Kenn Borek Air used a DHC-6 Twin Otter aircraft to rescue Dr. Ronald Shemenski from the Amundsen–Scott South Pole Station.[10][11][12][13] This was the first ever rescue from the South Pole during the southern winter.[14] To achieve the range necessary for this flight, the Twin Otter was equipped with a special ferry tank.
In 2009, the company was commissioned to recover a crashed aircraft in the Antarctic, and employees spent 25 days in a makeshift camp to complete the project.[10]
The airline was used by the BBC during the filming of the documentary Frozen Planet (2011), which was narrated by David Attenborough, and one of its planes is seen in portions of the footage.
In June 2016 the company assisted in removing two sick workers from Antarctica during the polar winter. Two Twin Otter aircraft were used and successfully completed the mission.[15] The crew, captain Wally Dobchuk, first officer Sebastian Trudel and maintenance engineer Michael McCrae were honoured for their heroism by Aviation Week.[16]
In 2020 one of the airline's converted DC-3s was used by NASA to drop probes along Greenland's Atlantic coast, as part of the NASA's annual Oceans Melting Greenland project. The project is intended to monitor the rate at which Greenland's ice cap melts into the sea.[17]
Operationsedit
Kenn Borek Air offers a full service overhaul maintenance hangar in Calgary with routine maintenance being completed wherever the aircraft is located.
In the months from September to March it operates significantly in Aeropuerto Internacional Carlos Ibañez del Campo in Punta Arenas, Chile flights to Antarctica depart from that place
On 28 February 1977, Douglas C-47A C-FIQR crashed near Salluit (then known as Sugluk), Quebec. The aircraft was not repairable and was used for parts.[19]
On 21 December 1977, DHC-6 C-FABW crashed near Nanisivik Airport, Nunavut. Damaged beyond repair. Two crew and six passengers were killed. Probable cause was a flap rod failure.[20][21]
On 18 September 1978, Douglas C-47A C-FCRW was damaged beyond economic repair in a landing accident at Komakuk Beach, Yukon.[22]
On 7 May 1982, Douglas C-47A C-FQHF overran the runway at Calgary International Airport following an aborted take-off.[23] The aircraft was damaged beyond economic repair.[24]
On 10 November 1987, DHC-4A Caribou aircraft C-GVYX, crashed near Ross River, Yukon, two crew were killed.[25][26]
On 20 December 2007, Basler BT-67 C-FMKB was substantially damaged in a take-off accident at Mount Paterson, Antarctica when the take-off was attempted with insufficient speed for flight. Of the twelve people on board, only the co-pilot suffered minor injuries. Although both sets of undercarriage collapsed and the port wing was damaged, the aircraft was later repaired and returned to service.[11][27][28]
On 25 October 2010, Beechcraft King Air C-FAFD en route from Edmonton City Centre to Kirby Lake (CFR4, (55°28′15″N110°46′10″W / 55.47083°N 110.76944°W / 55.47083; -110.76944[29]), crashed 1.5 nautical miles (2.8 km; 1.7 mi) southeast of Conklin. One of the ten occupants on board was killed, four were seriously injured.[30]
^ ab"ICAO Designators for Canadian Aircraft Operating Agencies, Aeronautical Authorities and Services" (PDF). Nav Canada. 4 May 2023. p. 5. Retrieved 26 February 2023. Kenn Borek Air: KBA, BOREK AIR
^"Vic Turner Ltd". Airline History. Retrieved 25 September 2020.
^"Member Profiles". Canada's Aviation Hall of Fame. Retrieved 25 September 2020.
^"Kenting Atlas Aviation". Airline History. Retrieved 25 September 2020.
^ abcdCanadian Press (23 January 2013). "Bad weather hampers search for 3 Canadians on plane missing in Antarctica". Global News. Archived from the original on 19 February 2013. Retrieved 23 January 2013.
^ abcCTV News (23 January 2013). "Kenn Borek plane carrying three Canadians missing in Antarctica". CTV. Retrieved 23 January 2013.
^Bob Antol (April 2001). "The Rescue of Dr. Ron Shemenski from the South Pole". Bob Antol's Polar Journals. Retrieved 23 January 2013.
^"Doctor rescued from Antarctica safely in Chile". The New Zealand Herald. 27 April 2001. Retrieved 23 January 2013.
^TRANSCRIPT (26 April 2001). "Plane With Dr. Shemenski Arrives in Chile". CNN. Retrieved 23 January 2013.
^"Kenn Borek rescue mission evacuates pair to Chile from South Pole". CBC News. 22 June 2016.
^Jen DiMascio (3 March 2017). "Kenn Borek Air Crew Wins 2017 Laureate for Heroism". Aviation Week & Space Technology.
^Pandemic Delays, But Doesn’t Slow, Ice Melt Research in Greenland: NASA Earth Expeditions
^ abcd"Fleet Overview". Retrieved 15 February 2023.
^Flight International, 31 July 1982, p267 Retrieved on 23 July 2010.
^"C-FQHF Accident report". Aviation Safety Network. Retrieved 9 July 2010.
^"Kenn Borek Air Ltd. De Havilland DHC4A Caribou C-GYVX Ross River, Yukon Territory 10 November 1987 Report Number 87-W70073" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 8 September 2005. Retrieved 15 February 2023.
^"Hull-loss description". Aviation Safety Network. Retrieved 12 November 2010.
^"Aircraft Missing in Antarctica". Stuff.co.nz. Retrieved 23 January 2013.
^Radio-Canada (23 January 2013). "Un avion transportant trois Canadiens est disparu en Antarctique" (in French). Station Radio-Canada. Retrieved 23 January 2013.
^ ab"ASN Aircraft accident de Havilland Canada DHC-6 Twin Otter 300 C-GKBC Mount Elizabeth". Aviation Safety Network. 23 January 2013. Retrieved 17 May 2019.
^"Flight carrying 3 Canadians missing in Antarctica". New Straits Times. Associated Press. 23 January 2013. Archived from the original on 24 January 2013. Retrieved 23 January 2013.
^CTV News (26 January 2013). "Wreckage of missing plane found, crash deemed 'not survivable'". CTV News. Retrieved 26 January 2013.
External linksedit
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Kenn Borek Air.