GAMETI/RAE LAKES
It's been said there are strange sights under the northern lights, and one of the strangest in the NWT might be at Beaverlodge Lake.

Since 1956, this Bristol Freighter aircraft has been sitting on the edge of Beaverlodge Lake, about 100 km north of Gameti. - photo courtesy of Eddie Chocolate

There on the shore of the lake, about 100 km north of Gameti, is a very old and remarkably well-preserved plane, although it was stripped of reusable parts many years ago. The Bristol Freighter – a British-made twin-engine aircraft featuring a nose door through which cargo was loaded and unloaded – sits with its tail in the trees and its front just barely in the water, or ice depending on the time of year.

It has been there for well over half a century.

Eddie Chocolate, a former chief in Gameti, was in the area about two weeks ago with a group of snowmobilers and took photos of the plane.

"I've seen it before," said Chocolate. "It's been sitting there for years and years."

The former chief said a lot of people, including himself, wonder about the history of the plane.

"I've talked to some elders, but they don't really know," he said.

Chocolate said a lot of people ask questions like why is the plane at the lake and how long has it been there.

"And we didn't know the answers," he said.

One person who knows a lot about the aircraft is Tom Hinderks, executive director of the Alberta Aviation Museum in Edmonton.

Hinderks said the plane, which was operated out of Edmonton by Pacific Western Airlines (PWA), has been at Beaverlodge Lake since 1956 when it was just about brand-new and carrying freight to a mine.

It landed on the ice on wheels, he explained. "It hit a thin patch of ice and the landing gear broke through, and it fell on its belly and got stuck. In the process of getting it out, it received substantial damage and it wasn't economical to remove the aircraft from the site. So come spring, they pulled it onto the beach."

The four-person crew was not injured in the accident.

The aircraft was stripped of all parts that could be used on PWA's other Bristol Freighters – cargo doors, instruments, seats, engines and more – and the rest of the aircraft was abandoned.

However, the plane won't be there forever, since it will eventually be removed under the federal government's planned environmental remediation of an old uranium mine at Beaverlodge Lake.

The Hottah Mine operated between 1943 and 1977, after which responsibility for the site reverted to the Crown.

According to information from the Department of Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development Canada, a remediation action plan exists for the mine site, and that would include removing the old plane.

Once that happens, Hinderks said the Alberta Aviation Museum would consider obtaining the plane to use as a static exhibit.

"We've actually had some dealings with the federal government about acquiring it," he said, noting the discussions began two or three years ago. "It's one of the few Bristol Freighters left that is on the edge of being restorable to static – for display only. It's too far gone to ever fly again."

Hinderks explained the history of the plane as a link between Edmonton and the NWT makes it interesting for the museum.

"It ties us together and it's a great story for us," he said.

Plus, it tells a wonderful story about PWA, which was Alberta's airline for a very long time, he noted. "It's a piece of our history that's really, really important."

Hinderks said if the museum acquires the aircraft, it would be brought to Edmonton, disassembled and repairs would be made.

"I have a file on the aircraft, so I know where to acquire the parts from around the world," he said. "There's some in New Zealand, there's some in England, there's some in South America."

Once reassembled, the original PWA colours of the time would also be added before the plane would be put on display.

Hinderks doesn't have an estimate of how much all that work would cost.

"It's a huge process to recover one of these aircraft today, and it's not inexpensive," he said, adding it would only be done with all the necessary permissions from the GNWT and the federal government.

An official with the Department of Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development Canada said it would consider dismantling the plane in a manner that preserves its structural integrity, if there's interest from some organization.

However, the official noted no parties have yet committed to recovering the plane, although there have been some preliminary discussions with the Alberta Aviation Museum.

There is no definite timeline for when the remediation of the mine site might happen.

Rather than see it go to Edmonton, Chocolate said he would prefer to see the Bristol Freighter remain where it is as a monument

"It's sort of like a landmark for us," he explained.

Chocolate noted visitors to Gameti are sometimes taken to Beaverlodge Lake – most easily accessible by snowmobile in the winter – to check out the plane.

"They like that," he said. "They like seeing the plane there, sitting out in nowhere."