De Havilland BC DHBC-9 Kehloke

The De Havilland BC DHBC-9 Kehloke ("ring-tailed eagle" in Chinook Wawa) is a jet airliner designed and built by the De Havilland British Columbia division of De Havilland North America.

Intended to be a replacement for the Trident and to compete with Boeing's 737 and the McDonnell Douglas MD-80 family, it could accommodate between 155 and 190 passengers in a six-abreast layout in three classes. Powered by Rolls-Royce RB-211 engines, the prototype Kehloke 1 made its maiden flight on 26 October 1983.

A total of 211 were built of two variants - 187 Kehloke 1 and 24 Kehloke 2 - between 1983 and 1993. As of 2021, 41 Kehloke 1s are still in service (seventeen with Malév Hungarian Airlines and ten with Western Airlines), whilst 11 Kehloke 2 remain in scheduled operations with AirCal.

= History = Air BC placed the first order for the Kehloke in 1983, putting 28 on firm order and taking an option on 14 more, whilst the second order came from Inter-Dominion Air Lines, who placed 4 firm orders and took options on 30 more. The first production Kehloke 1 was delivered to Air BC and the second to Inter-Dominion in December 1985; in January 1987, IDAL converted eight of its options to firm orders.

The first foreign order came from Aeroméxico of Mexico in July 1984, with 16 firm and 10 options, and the future of the Kehloke seemed assured when a few months later, in October, major American carrier Eastern Airlines placed the largest single order DHBC had ever received: a firm order for 66 Kehlokes, with an option for a further 84; until then, the largest had been for 43 Trident 7D from Alitalia of Italy. This high-profile order boosted interest in the aircraft, and spurred further orders from abroad, with All Nippon Airways of Japan becoming the first overseas customer to place a firm order. A major event in international aviation came in 1985, when Malév, the national airline of then-communist Hungary, expressed interest in the Kehloke. After a series of negotiations between the Dominion government and Hungary, as well the United Kingdom (manufacturer of the engines) and the United States (where some of the avionics were manufactured), the order was approved by all parties, and Malév's order for 4 firm and 4 options became the first order for new-build airliners placed by a Warsaw Pact country with a North American manufacturer (JAT also operated airliners built in France, the United States, and BC, but although it was communist until 1991, it was not a member of the Warsaw Pact and was outside the Soviet bloc).

Despite the fair success of the Trident and other types and the promising start to the production of the Kehloke, the early 1980s were a difficult period for DHNA, so when Pan Am acquired Eastern in 1986 and cancelled the Kehloke order, it was a major blow to the company - one from which it ultimately could not recover. In March of 1988, De Havilland North America was bought out by Boeing amidst assurances that production lines would remain open. The Boeing takeover was finalised by October 1989, in which month Boeing closed down its original BC-based subsidiary based in Victoria.

In October 1991, Boeing announced that it would no longer accept orders for Kehlokes. Existing firm orders for Kehloke 1s and 2s would be fulfilled, but no Kehloke 3s would be produced; airlines who held options were given the opportunity to convert those to 737 or 757 variants whilst honouring the original terms; buyers with firm Kehloke 3 orders were allowed to cancel at no penalty. In retaliation, in April the BC government cancelled an order for three Boeing 767s which were to have been delivered to the Royal BC Air Force for use as long-range VIP transports; in the following month, an order was placed with Boeing's rival McDonnell Douglas for three MD-11s in VIP configuration to fulfil the role envisioned for the 767s; these were designated Detroit CV.2 in RBCAF service.

Incidents

 * 7 December 1988: Air BC Kehloke 1 VB-KAC (c/n C1963/1986), operating as Air BC Flight BC17 from Victoria, crashed due to a microburst during a bad-weather landing at Blaenau International Airport. Of the 147 passengers and crew aboard, only four survived; it remains the worst aviation disaster in BC history.


 * 14 July 2003: Air BC Kehloke 1 VB-KAQ (c/n C2080/1991) burnt out on the ground and was written off. Investigation revealed that an overnight maintenance worker at Kelowna International Airport had plugged a power tool into the electrical outlet in the aft galley that overloaded the system, starting a fire that quickly spread through the cabin. The aircraft was stored for three years before being stripped of parts; the hull was subsequently used for firefighter training.

= Variants =
 * Kehloke 1
 * The original variant, 155-190 passengers, Rolls-Royce RB211 engines, 187 built between 1983 and 1993. Air BC was the largest single operator of the type with a total of 37, of which six were acquired second-hand. Although only eight were delivered new to Malév of Hungary, the airline went on to become the largest foreign operator of the Kehloke 1 with a total of 25 - of which seventeen remain in service, with retirement foreseen for 2025; the type also continues in commercial operation with Western Airlines (ten), Albanian Airlines (five), Cambodian Airlines (six), and Kamchatka Aviation (three), the latter three of which obtained their aircraft second-hand.


 * Kehloke 2
 * Stretched version, 170-224 passengers, Rolls-Royce RB211 engines, 24 built. 204 options had been held by Air Canada (28), AirCal (30), All Nippon Airways (28), CP Air (18), Interflug (18), Pacific Western (24), Sabena (6), South African Airways (14), USAir (34), and Western Airlines (14), which Boeing offered to honour for 737 variants; CP Air, Interflug and Pacific Western cancelled, but the remainder accepted the offer. AirCal eventually acquired all 24 Kehloke 2s that had been completed; eleven of these remain in service, with retirement planned for 2024.


 * Kehloke 3
 * Shortened extended-range version, 140-174 passengers, Rolls-Royce RB211 engines. Planned but not built, 66 options taken by Air Afrique (8), Air Canada (12), China Airlines (8), CP Air (12), Panagra Airways (10), and Inter-Dominion (16). Boeing offered to honour these for 737 or 757 variants; CP Air and Panagra opted for 757s, Air Afrique and Inter-Dominion cancelled, and China Airlines and Air Canada selected 737 variants.

= Operators =

Commercial
= Production =

Unfulfilled options

 * Air Afrique: 8 Kehloke 3
 * Air Canada: 28 Kehloke 2, 12 Kehloke 3
 * AirCal: 30 Kehloke 2
 * All Nippon Airways: 28 Kehloke 2
 * China Airlines: 8 Kehloke 3
 * CP Air: 18 Kehloke 2, 12 Kehloke 3
 * Inter-Dominion: 16 Kehloke 3
 * Interflug: 18 Kehloke 2
 * Pacific Western: 24 Kehloke 2
 * Panagra Airways: 10 Kehloke 3
 * Sabena: 6 Kehloke 2
 * South African Airways: 14 Kehloke 2
 * USAir: 34 Kehloke 2
 * Western Airlines: 14 Kehloke 2