Air British Columbia

Air British Columbia or Air BC is one of British Columbia's two flag-carrier airlines. Although primarily focusing on scheduled domestic and North American services, Air BC also operates a small number of international services, primarily to East Asia.

Air BC serves 73 destinations (38 domestic, 25 continental, 10 international) in 14 countries.

History
Air British Columbia was established in 1947 through the merger of Vancouver Island Air Service (VIAS), Kootenay Air Transport (KAT), and West Coast Air Services (WCAS).

In 1985, Air BC acquired Tisquit Air, thereby adding Tisquit to its network of destinations.

Incidents

 * 28 April 1947 Boeing 247D VB-WCB (c/n 1945/1934), operating as Air BC Flight BC 328 from Lethbridge, Alberta, Canada to Vancouver, crashed into the east slope of Mt Elsay about ten miles north of Vancouver. Due to reduced nighttime visibility, the crew failed to realise that their altitude was insufficient and flew into the mountainside. Search and rescue operations were conducted over a large area but suspended after five days with no trace of the aircraft having been found; all three crew and twelve passengers were killed. The wreckage of the aircraft was found by a group of hikers on 27 September 1994.


 * 24 April 1949 DH.84B Dragon 1B VB-VBB (c/n C44/1934), operating a non-scheduled flight from Vanderhoof to the village of Middle River, landed on the frozen Trembleur Lake, and as the aircraft rolled towards the village, it ran over a soft spot in the ice and broke through. Everyone on board escaped safely and all goods were retrieved from the aircraft, but attempts to pull the aircraft free using snowmobiles caused the ice to break further; the attempt was abandoned, and the aircraft eventually sank into the lake.


 * 1 March 1970 DHBC-4 Skylark VB-SBK (c/n C642/1961), operating as Air BC Flight BC 106 from Victoria to Vancouver, collided with a privately owned ERCO 415 Ercoupe (VB-RHN) on final approach. Whilst nearing their destination in clear weather in a VFR descent of 500 feet per minute at 180 knots, the pilots were informed by arrival control that there was an aircraft at 12 o'clock at one mile, moving from left to right. They looked intently but were unable to see the aircraft; radar then reported that the target had disappeared and directed a frequency change to tower. The pilots of the Skylark resumed their pre-landing cockpit duties and a few seconds later they felt a jar as the Skylark collided with the Ercoupe at approximately 1,500 feet asl. Witnesses to the collision saw a small white aircraft spiralling to the ground; the pilot was killed. The collision caused a fire in one engine but the aircraft landed safely with only a few minor injuries amongst the 29 passengers and four crew. Inspection revealed damage to the wing from the collision, and the aircraft was written off.


 * 7 December 1994 DHBC-9B Kehloke 1B VB-KAC (c/n C1963/1986), operating as Air BC Flight BC 17 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.


 * 19 October 1995 Lockheed L1011-500 VB-AHI, operating as Air BC Flight BC 7 from Vancouver to Taipei, Republic of China, suffered considerable damage in a runway excursion after a rejected takeoff. Approximately two seconds after the V1 call during takeoff on Runway 26, the crew heard a loud bang and felt the airframe shudder with considerable vibration, later discovered to be the result of a compressor stall in the number 1 engine. The captain called for and initiated a rejected takeoff, however the aircraft could not be stopped on the runway and the nosegear collapsed when the aircraft rolled through the soft ground beyond the end of the runway, coming to rest in a nose-down attitude about 400 feet from the end of the runway. Six passengers were slightly injured during evacuation of the aircraft. The BC TSB determined that contributing to the engine stall were the misidentification of the cause of the loud bang, a lack of knowledge regarding the characteristics of compressor stalls, and a delay between the collection and analysis of the engine monitoring data. The aircraft was repaired and returned to service.


 * 14 July 2003: DHBC-9B Kehloke 1B 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.

Fleet
Air BC operate a total of 262 aircraft.

Current

 * Antonov An-158 - 2 (2021 to date), +44 on order to be delivered by 2028
 * ATR 42-500 - 26 (2001 to date), to be retired by 2027
 * ATR 42-600 - 0, +33 on order to be delivered 2023–2027
 * ATR 72-212A - 14 (2000 to date), to be retired by 2024
 * ATR 72-600 - 9 (2019 to date), +10 on order to be delivered by 2024
 * Avro RJ85 - 47 (1997 to date), to be retired by 2028
 * Avro RJ100 - 52 (1999 to date), replacement being considered by 2030
 * Boeing 737-700 - 28 (2010 to date)
 * Boeing 737-900 - 42 (2013 to date)
 * Boeing 747-8 - 4 (2012 to date)
 * Boeing 767-200ER - 11 (1994 to date)
 * Boeing 767-200ER(F) - 3 (2021 to date)
 * Sukhoi Su-80 - 16 (2016 to date)
 * Sukhoi Superjet 95LR - 16 (2014 to date)

Historic

 * Boeing 247D - 4 (1947–1948), ex WCAS
 * Boeing 307 Stratoliner - 2 (1947–1949), ex WCAS
 * Boeing 707-320B - 5 (1965–1993), converted to freighters in 1977
 * Boeing 707-320C - 12 (1969–1995), converted to freighters in 1980–1982
 * Boeing 757-200 - 12 (1988–2020)
 * Bristol Britannia 310 - 9 (1955–1964), sold to Kelowna Aviation
 * Canadair North Star - 4 (1948–1959)
 * Convair CV-990 - 5 (1962–1970)
 * De Havilland Comet 4C - 5 (1961–1971)
 * DHBC DH.84 Dragon 1B - 3 (1947–1957), ex VIAS
 * DHBC DH.86C Express - 2 (1947–1953), ex VIAS
 * DHBC DH.89C Dragon Rapide - 6 (1947–1952), 1 ex VIAS, 5 ex WCAS
 * DHBC DH.95 Flamingo - 4 (1947–1950), 1 ex KAT, 3 ex VIAS
 * DHBC-1 Dove - 12 (1947–1976)
 * DHBC-2B Heron 3B - 15 (1952–1987)
 * DHBC-3A Victoria C.1 - 7 (1965–1988), acquired second-hand from RBCAF
 * DHBC-3B Sandpiper - 4 (1955–1986)
 * DHBC-4 Skylark - 13 (1957–1975)
 * DHBC-5 Swan - 8 (1963–2007), 3 converted to Combi in 1985; used as freighters only from the late 1980s
 * DHBC-5C Swan - 12 (1967–2013), delivered new; used as freighters only from the late 1980s
 * DHBC-7A Trident 7A - 9 (1967–2000)
 * DHBC-7D Trident 7D - 12 (1979–2016)
 * DHBC-7E Trident 7E - 15 (1974–2007)
 * DHBC-9A Kehloke 1 - 37 (1985–2020), 31 delivered new, 6 acquired second-hand
 * Douglas DC-2 - 2 (1947–1948), ex KAT
 * Douglas DC-3 - 12 (1947–1962), 2 ex KAT, 2 ex WCAS, 8 acquired second-hand
 * Douglas DC-9-14 - 12 (1966–1998)
 * Douglas DC-9-32 - 27 (1968–1997)
 * Douglas DC-9-41 - 16 (1969–1999)
 * Embraer EMB-110 - 28 (1973–2004), first 16 del 1973–1975, next 12 del 1984–1985)
 * Lockheed Model 14 Super Electra - 3 (1947–1953), ex KAT
 * Lockheed L1011-100 - 8 (1977–1992)
 * Lockheed L1011-500 – 3 (1980–2001)
 * NAMC YS-11 - 18 (1971–2000)
 * Sud Aviation SE-210 Caravelle III - 16 (1964–1976)

BC-made aircraft
''Note: a green background indicates an aircraft in service, a yellow background indicates a retired aircraft, and a pink background indicates an aircraft lost in an accident.

Other aircraft
= Routes = Air BC have codeshare agreements with Cathay Pacific, Japan Airlines, and others.

Entries with a green background indicates a destination in British Columbia.