Air Canada Flight 621
Section 24, Lot 1
Mount Pleasant Cemetery, Toronto
Early Sunday morning, July 5, 1970, Air Canada’s Montreal to Los Angeles via Toronto Flight 621, dubbed the “California Galaxy,” was making its final approach to Toronto International Airport’s runway 32. As the four-engine DC-8-63 jet cleared the end of the runway, it suddenly dropped, hitting the tarmac with a stomach-wrenching thud, rebounded, powered up and roared into the morning sky desperately seeking a second try. Unknown to the flight crew, the outboard engine on the right wing had broken off and cartwheeled down the runway. Now working with just three engines, the captain was able to keep the plane in the air for another few minutes before it crashed into a farmer’s field north of the airport. All 108 on board Flight 621 were killed.
A special memorial service was held on this spot on July 30, 1970 and in May of the following year the stone monument (a replica of the one erected to the memory of those lost in the Ste. Therese, Quebec crash seven years earlier) was erected. It is inscribed with the names of all 109 victims. A total of 49 identified and three unidentified victims of the ill-fated Flight 621 are buried here.
Mike Filey
Mount Pleasant Cemetery: An Illustrated Guide
Second Edition Revised and Expanded