1944 Montreal RAF Liberator VI crash

On April 25, 1944, a Royal Air Force Liberator B Mark VI en route to Britain via Gander, Newfoundland crashed into the Griffintown neighborhood in downtown Montreal, Quebec minutes after taking off from Dorval Airport.

The five-member crew and ten civilians on the ground were killed, and a large fire destroyed at least 10 homes.

[1] Between 1941 and 1945, Montreal's Dorval airport was where 9,000 aircraft were gathered from manufacturers all over North America prior to being transferred by RAF Ferry Command overseas.

It passed in front of the Sun Life Building and narrowly missed the tower of Windsor Station and the chimney of the Dow Brewery.

Witnesses in the Sun Life Building described seeing part of the tail detached as it flew at low altitude apparently trying to reach the river to ditch.