Material Type

Photograph

Date Range

1 February 1931

Description Level

Item

Physical Description

Black and white photograph

Physical Condition

Excellent

History Biographical

On 1 February 1931 Ivan Thomson borrowed the Gypsy Moth aircraft, registration CF-ADJ, from Southern Alberta Air Lines to take his friend Donald McKenzie on a sightseeing flight over Lethbridge. They took off from the Municipal Airport at 5 Avenue and 28 Street North, flew south over Henderson Lake Park and the Duff Addition and then turned north toward the airport. West of the airport Thomson began a right turn, at which point the aircraft spun out of control and crashed just north of the International Harvester building. Both Ivan Thomson and Donald McKenzie were killed instantly in the first fatal aviation accident in Lethbridge's history. The day after the crash, Charles B. Elliott of Southern Alberta Air Lines was interviewed by The Lethbridge Herald and asked his opinion of what caused the crash. His opinion, based on information he received from eyewitnesses to the accident, was that Thomson had tried to make a 'flat' turn instead of banking the aircraft. The result was that aircraft lost lift and spun out of control into the ground. Ivan Francis Thomson was born in Lethbridge in 1912, the son of Dr. Robert B.C. Thomson and Elizabeth Thomson. Ivan had two brothers, George Homer and James, and a sister Elizabeth. His mother Elizabeth died on 3 May 1917. Ivan received his education in Lethbridge. In 1929 he and his friend Art Larson built a glider and learned to fly it. The two young men formed the Prairie Gliders, forerunner of the Lethbridge Gliding Club. In 1930 Ivan began flying lessons with Charles B. Elliott, owner and operator of Southern Alberta Air Lines. Ivan had 60 hours of solo flying in his log book, and had earned his commercial pilot's license three weeks before the crash. It arrived in the mail the day after his death. Ivan Thomson was 19 years old, and is buried in Mountain View Cemetery in Lethbridge. Donald William McKenzie was born in Lethbridge in 1913, the son of William L. McKenzie and Winnifred Alice McKenzie. He had one brother, Ralph. Educated in Lethbridge and at technical schools in Calgary, Donald worked for his father in W.L. McKenzie & Company electricians. Donald McKenzie was 18 years old at the time of his death, and is buried in Mountain View Cemetery in Lethbridge. [Sources: Mrs. Elizabeth Garton (nee Thompson) Wings Over Lethbridge by Bruce W. Gowans (Lethbridge, 1986), page IV-88 The Lethbridge Herald, 2 February 1931, pages 1 and 4]

Acquisition Source

King Fred

Scope and Content

Wreckage of the Gypsy Moth aircraft flown by Ivan Thomson near the intersection of 3 Avenue and 9 Street North after it crashed. Thompson and Donald McKenzie were killed in the crash.

Access Restrictions

Public Access

Accession No.

19790086001

Collection

Archive

Less detail