1967 de Havilland Canada DHC-6 Twin Otter Series 100, c/n 40, C-FGQE, “069”, Air BC

1967 de Havilland Canada DHC-6 Twin Otter Series 100, c/n 40, C-FGQE, “069”, Air BC at Vancouver International Water Airport (CAM9), Moray Channel, Richmond, B.C., adjacent to South Terminal, Vancouver International Airport (YVR/CYVR), Sea Island, Richmond, B.C., Canada in late May 1989

1967 de Havilland Canada DHC-6 Twin Otter Series 100, c/n 40, C-FGQE, “069”, Air BC (Air BC Ltd.), South Terminal, Vancouver International Airport (YVR/CYVR), Sea Island, Richmond, B.C., Canada, based at Vancouver International Water Airport (CAM9), Moray Channel, Richmond, B.C., adjacent to South Terminal, Vancouver International Airport (YVR/CYVR)

• titled AirBC on rear fuselage
• powered by two 550-shp Pratt & Whitney Canada PT6A-20 turboprop engines with constant-speed, full-feathering reversible-pitch, three-blade Hartzell propellers
• crew of two (pilot and co-pilot), 18 passengers, STOL (short take-off and landing) utility transport
• CAP 12000 straight floats, seaplane fins on horizontal stabilizer

• built by The de Havilland Aircraft of Canada Limited, Downsview, Ontario, Canada at Downsview Airport (YZD/CYZD), Downsview, Ontario
• 5H-MNK, de Havilland Canada Inc., Downsview, Ontario, Canada rolled out on May 15, 1967
• first flight on May 30, 1967
• fixed tricycle landing gear
• delivered as 5H-MNK to East African Airways (East African Airways Corporation), Nairobi, Kenya on July 13, 1967
• registered in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania
• ferried via London Heathrow Airport (LHR/EGLL), Hillingdon, London, England on July 16, 1967
• airline ceased operations in 1977
• CF-GQE, Bannock Aerospace (Bannock Aerospace Ltd.), Toronto, Ontario, Canada on August 17, 1973
• CF-GQE, Air West Airlines (Air West Airlines Ltd.), South Terminal, Vancouver International Airport (YVR/CYVR), Sea Island, Richmond, B.C., Canada in October 1973
• based at Vancouver International Water Airport (CAM9)
• CAP 12000 straight floats, seaplane fins on horizontal stabilizer
• re-registered as C-FGQE in 1978
• Air West Airlines (Air West Airlines Ltd.) renamed as Airwest Airlines (Airwest Airlines Ltd.) in April 1979
• Airwest Airlines (Airwest Airlines Ltd.), Gulf Air (Gulf Air Aviation Services Ltd.), Haida Airlines (Haida Airlines Ltd.), Island Air (Island Airlines Ltd.), Pacific Coastal Airlines (Pacific Coastal Airlines Ltd.), and West Coast Air (West Coast Air Services Ltd.) purchased by Jim Pattison Industries Ltd. between April 1979 and June 1980, and merged to form Air BC (Air BC Ltd.) on December 1, 1980 
• Trans-Provincial Airlines (Trans-Provincial Airlines Ltd.) purchased by Jim Pattison Industries Ltd. but operated separately
• C-FGQE, Air BC (Air BC Ltd./Subsidiary of Jim Pattison Industries Ltd.), South Terminal, Vancouver International Airport (YVR/CYVR), Sea Island, Richmond, B.C., Canada on December 1, 1980
• based at Vancouver International Water Airport (CAM9)
• leased to Fort Smith Air Service (Fort Smith Air Service Ltd.), Fort Smith, NWT, Canada on July 15, 1982
• returned to Air BC on July 29, 1982 and cancelled on October 9, 1986
• damaged dockside at Victoria Inner Harbour Airport (YWH/CYWH), Victoria, Vancouver Island, B.C., Canada on August 27, 1983 after hit by a de Havilland Canada DHC-3T Turbine Otter of Kenmore Air (Kenmore Air Harbor Inc.)
• repaired and returned to service
• Air BC became a CP Air Commuter regional partner in October 1983 and moved operations from South Terminal to the main terminal of Vancouver International Airport (YVR/CYVR)
• ownership of Trans-Provinicial Airlines by Jim Pattison Industries Ltd. ended in October 1986
• ownership of Air BC by Jim Pattison Industries Ltd. ended on November 28, 1986
• C-FGQE, “069”, Air BC (Air BC Ltd.), South Terminal, Vancouver International Airport (YVR/CYVR), Sea Island, Richmond, B.C., Canada on November 28, 1986
• based at Vancouver International Water Airport (CAM9)
• Air BC’s affiliation with CP Air as a CP Air Commuter regional partner ended in April 1987
• Air BC became an Air Canada Connector regional partner on April 26, 1987
• withdrawn from use and stored at South Terminal, Vancouver International Airport (YVR/CYVR) on December 18, 1995
• C-FGQE, “609”, West Coast Air (West Coast Air Ltd.), Vancouver, B.C., Canada in January 1996
• based at Vancouver Harbour Water Airport (CXH/CYHC), Coal Harbour, Burrard Inlet, Vancouver, B.C.
• operated first West Coast Air service between Victoria Inner Harbour Airport (YWH/CYWH) and Vancouver Harbour Water Airport (CXH/CYHC) on January 25, 1996
• damaged in water collision with 1959 de Havilland Canada DHC-2 Beaver Mk. I, c/n 1203, C-FHRT, Tofino Air (Tofino Air Lines Ltd.), Gibsons, B.C., Canada at Vancouver Harbour Water Airport (CXH/CYHC) on October 13, 2002
• repaired and returned to service
• Harbour Air Seaplanes (Harbour Air Ltd.) completed its purchase of West Coast Air on April 30, 2010 and consolidated their terminal services but West Coast Air still operates under its own banner
• West Coast Air moved to South Terminal, Vancouver International Airport (YVR/CYVR) on August 12, 2010
• active

[1984 Nikon FE2 SLR 35-mm roll film camera, s/n 1816483, with Nikkor AI 50-mm f/1.8 lens, s/n 2336591, and 52-mm polarizing filter; Fujifilm Fujichrome 100 (RD-113) 36-exposure colour slide film]

© Copyright photograph by Stephan Alexander Scharnberg, May 1989