Andrew Gordon Carswell AFC (29 May 1923 – 25 July 2021) was a Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF) Avro Lancaster pilot who was shot down near Berlin on his fourth mission in 1943.
During this time he was involved in two famous rescues, including one in 1956 that won him the Air Force Cross which was presented personally by Elizabeth II.
He later joined the Ministry of Transport and prepared a 1977 report on the shockingly poor quality of service and training of bush plane pilots operating in northern Ontario.
[1] Carswell was repatriated in 1945 when the RAF men were sent on a "death march" westward and eventually met advancing British Army troops.
[1] After his return to Canada, Carswell began studies in architecture[a] at the University of Toronto, where he met his future wife Dorothy "Dot" McCreadie at a dance.
[1] On 28 June 1956, Carswell landed in high waves off Galiano Island to rescue the crew of a foundering fishing boat.
[1] On 6 September 1956, Carswell landed the Canso some 600 miles (970 km) off the west coast of Vancouver Island to pick up a critically ill member of the weather ship CGS St. Catharines.
[3] After several deadly crashes in northern Ontario, he and fellow inspector William Slaughter were asked to write a report on the operations of the bush plane companies.
The report concluded "The timid approach to enforcement which Transport Canada is perceived to have adopted is an ineffectual deterrent that has nurtured unsatisfactory aviation safety standards.