By Megan Butcher

In our previous blog post on searching for aviation accident reports, you learned that you need to know a few basic details before starting your search:

• Aircraft model
• Accident date and location
• Aircraft registration number
• Aircraft type (civilian or military)

This is a great starting point if you have those details already. But what if you don’t? There are a few different ways to find what you need.

To start with the most broadly accessible resources, while the following two databases aren’t exhaustive, they do include quite a number of Canadian aircraft accidents, including the first fatal accident in 1913:

• Aviation Safety Network Database
• Accident Database

Local newspapers can also be a great resource to find at least some of the details. You could start your newspaper research here at Library and Archives Canada (LAC) by checking out our microform holdings. If you aren’t able to visit us in Ottawa, you could contact your local library instead to see if they’re able to borrow the reels you need from us or another library.

If you’re still missing some important details, you may have some luck with the Canadian Aviation Safety Board annual reports and aircraft accident synopses. Most of the entries are very short, but sometimes they include a surprising amount of occasionally heartbreaking information:

Synopsis of an aircraft accident from the annual report of the Canadian Aviation Safety Board, 1980, Issue 5, p 56 (AMICUS 2828768)

Our collection includes many issues from the following years:

• 1967: Accidents to Canadian registered aircraft. Canadian Air Transportation Administration. Aircraft Accident Investigation Division. AMICUS 3236225
• 1968-74: Aircraft accidents. Canadian Air Transportation Administration. Aircraft Accident Investigation Division. AMICUS 11371
• 1975-84: Synopses of aircraft accidents; civil aircraft in Canada. AMICUS 2828768
• 1984-89: Annual report. Canadian Aviation Safety Board.  AMICUS 5348822

There are also two other publications that we don’t have, but about which you could ask your local librarian:

• 1947-1958: Canada. Civil Aviation Division. Annual report on aircraft accidents: 1947-1958. — [Ottawa], Dept. of Transport, Air Services Branch, Civil Aviation Division
• 1960-1963: Canada. Civil Aviation Branch. A survey of accidents to aircraft of Canadian registry, 1959-1962. — Ottawa, [1960-1963]

If you find anything in our collection you’d like to see, you can view it onsite, request a reproduction, or talk to your local library about the possibility of borrowing it through our Loans to Other Institutions program

.And, as always, if you’re stumped and need help, don’t hesitate to ask us a question!

Megan Butcher is a Reference Librarian in Reference Services Division at Library and Archives Canada.