Into the Abyss: An Extraordinary True Story by Carol Shaben. (FYI: The author is the daughter of Larry Shaben, one of the survivors.)
Into the Abyss recounts the crash of a small commuter plane in Alberta, Canada, in October of 1984. Six people died and four survived a harrowing, snowy night. The book is more about how the survivors were affected by the experience than it is about the accident. You also learn a lot about the business of running the short-hop airlines on which much of the flying public depends to travel in isolated areas.
Small commuter airlines account for over half of all domestic flights. In rural Alberta, people often chose to fly to a destination rather than spend hours driving on isolated roads, often in the middle of nowhere.
There were two high-level politicians on the plane that was traveling from Edmonton to small towns in Alberta. Larry Shaben, a cabinet minister in the provincial government, and Grant Notley, a member of the provincial legislature and leader of the opposition party. The passengers also included a Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) officer who was escorting a prisoner to trial.
Erik Vogel was the 24-year-old whose father was a pilot for a major airline that flew all over the world. Erik was flying for Wapiti Airlines that was owned by Dale Wells. Wapiti was known for bending the rules to complete flights, and it was regularly cited by Canadian air officials for various safety violations. But flying jobs were scarce and Erik needed to get enough hours in the air in order to get a job with a better company.
Piloting in rural Canada is challenging, with marginal airports, lots of hills and mountains, and fickle weather. Wapiti, like similar companies, operated on the financial margin, which meant that sometimes equipment wasn’t operating correctly. Pilots had to be good at fixing things as well as creative in doing end runs when something wasn’t working right but the flight had to be made.
On October 19th, Erik was having second thoughts about making the scheduled flight. He had been flying since he was twenty years old so he had solid experience working in the Canadian wilderness. He had gone to college to learn how to fly since that program was more intensive than traditional commercial pilot’s programs.
As he thought about it, he was getting more nervous about taking the plane up that night. The weather forecast was bad, with snow and fog on the way. The small airports he was going to had minimal instrument flying equipment, which was what pilots relied on to land in poor visibility conditions. But not flying really wasn't an option; pilots were fired for not completing their assignments. Erik had been let go from his first piloting job when he refused to go out in bad weather.
The plane took off and was about to make its first stop at High Prairie when Vogel noticed that ice was falling off the wings, a bad sign. Since there was no co-pilot, he had to deal with the ice as he was trying to find the landing beacon in fog and snow. He lost contact with the airport and a moment later his wings hit trees and the plane crashed and flipped upside down, coming to a stop almost 700 feet from first impact.
Six people died, five on impact with the other one dying during the night. The four survivors were hurt, some seriously, but they managed to get out and get away from the plane which was leaking fuel and in danger of exploding. It was 8 PM and it was snowing.
At the beginning of the flight, Scott Deschamps, the police officer, had ignored regulations and taken the handcuffs off Paul Archambault, his prisoner who had been cuffed to the plane’s frame. Scott saw Paul as more of a misguided loser than a dangerous criminal. That action probably saved Paul’s life.
Passenger and Alberta Cabinet Minister Larry Shaben was a second-generation Arab Canadian who was a role model for Canadian Muslims. He was a last-minute addition to the flight. When he came to after the crash he realized that he had lost his glasses which he really needed to see much. He had cuts and bruises as well as internal rib injuries.
Erik Vogel had internal injuries as well as head and hand trauma. He was also distraught because he had crashed the plane. He had been distracted by the icing and lost track of where the plane was.
Scott, the RCMP officer, had internal injuries and had damaged his left shoulder. He also had been thrown into a snowbank where he was trapped and having trouble breathing. He yelled and Erik and Paul dug him out of the snow. Aside from bumps and bruises, Paul was relatively uninjured. He started a fire which was critical to surviving in the cold and snow.
By 8:30 the High Prairie airport manager called for a search to look for the plane. The military implemented its major air disaster plan which authorized search planes as well an RCMP ground unit to look for the aircraft. Authorities checked with regional airports, hoping that Wapita 402, the flight number, had diverted and landed somewhere else but that wasn’t the case. By now, the searchers had figured out that two prominent local politicians had been on the flight and the press was starting to come to the airport. As word got out about the crash, dozens of local people with search experience came out to help. Dale Wells, Wapiti’s owner, took a plane out and searched for an hour to no avail.
Back at the crash site the fire was flickering as the survivors tried to find anything that would burn. Around 10 PM, Erik told the group that he was the pilot. The reaction was muted and Scott asked how long it would take for rescuers to get there. Erik didn’t know but he told them that the plane had an ELT (Emergency Locator Transmitter) that was sending out a signal showing their location.
RCMP officer Scott took charge and asked Erik what was onboard for survival equipment. There really wasn’t anything, not even an axe to chop wood. There were no requirements for such equipment. Scott was getting a little concerned about his prisoner who was free and able to move around easily, unlike the other three. Scott was also hoping that Paul wouldn't find the pistol that was in his briefcase.
Around 11 PM, the Canadian military picked up the ELT signal from the plane and directed the search to that area. The weather was still dicey, with snow and fog. The survivors were excited when they heard the small plane overhead. A bit later, a huge Hercules CC-130, a huge craft that was outfitted for searching, started to circle the site to hone in on the exact location of the survivors. Normally, soldiers would parachute in for the rescue, but the snow and fog and rough terrain made that impossible. They had to call in a big Chinook helicopter to effect the rescue.
The copter headed towards the crash site but the weather was terrible, with ice all over the craft. The ground searchers had a better chance of getting to the site first but they had to navigate through deep snow fields. They had the use of local snow cats and all-terrain vehicles for the search. People in High Prairie loved the local guy, Larry Shaben, and wanted to help.
The survivors realized that the search crews really hadn’t pinpointed the location. As it turned out, the ELT signal was sporadic. Erik went to the unit and toggled it on and off, hoping that would get their attention.
The weather worsened and the planes and the Chinook had to land to refuel. The ground searchers were still 15 kilometers away. The survivors had been elated to hear the planes overhead but when they went away they got depressed. They were cold and hurt and didn’t have winter coats with them.
Erik was feeling guiltier as time went on. He realized that there was just too much information for him to process just before the crash. He had asked for a co-pilot but that was denied. Erik also had been ill and had not been sleeping well. He was not in great shape to be flying at all, especially in bad weather. In the middle of the night, he passed out. Leaving Paul to keep the fire going.
Paul and Larry chatted during the night. Paul came from a broken home where his stepfather abused him and his mother. At 15, Paul ran away from home. He got into petty theft and then worked his way up to stealing cars. He also broke into houses to steal things. Now in his mid-twenties, Paul had spent about four years in prison. He had been fairly well behaved for a few months, working at a local pizza place. One night he got very drunk and started fights and did a lot of damage to a bar. The police arrested him and he lost his job. He thought things couldn't get any worse and then his plane crashed.
Scott slept fitfully. He knew the signs of hypothermia - freezing to death - and he was experiencing some of the early symptoms. He thought a lot about his life. He wasn’t happy being a police officer. His wife wanted kids which he didn’t, but he was rethinking that position now. During the night he had a vision of an older man with flowing white hair who was keeping watch over the group.
The sun came up with no rescuers in sight. The weather was still challenging but the searchers on the ground were making steady progress. Back at the airport, people learned about the passengers on the plane. The only woman who died in the crash was on her first airplane flight. She left behind 14 children.
The survivors pulled out seat cushions from the plane and burned them. Erik had been toggling the ELT and the big Hercules finally spotted the fire site and the men. The plane crew requested permission to parachute in, but once again the commander vetoed it as foolhardy. The on-foot search party was now within a mile or so of the crash site. At 9 AM a small plane came in low and the pilot wagged its wings to the group. They had been found.
The Chinook came in and hovered above the site as the rescue crew was lowered to the ground. The crew did first aid and called in announcing that 6 people were dead with 4 alive. Soon the area was buzzing with helicopters from TV stations from all over Canada.
By 11:25 AM, 15 hours after the crash, the survivors had been lifted into the helicopter which headed out. On-board medics diagnosed the injuries and did what they could do immediately. They landed in High Prairie a few minutes later, when Larry, always the politician, walked off the Chinook without assistance.
The airport was a grim place as family and friends learned of their loved one’s fate. The dead included parents of 33 children. Prime Minister Brian Mulrooney called in to check progress.
Paul Archambault was introduced by the other three as a hero who saved them. He still was a prisoner so the police came and put him in a secure hospital room, shackled to the bed.
Paul, who recovered quickly, had his day in court. His lawyer made sure that the judge knew that the defendant had saved people’s lives in the plane crash. The judge indeed did note that and sentenced Paul to time served and released him as a free man. He had lost his wallet somewhere so he had no license or money. His previous employer rehired him to work at the pizza shop, so he was off to a good start.
Erik had the worst injuries and almost died in surgery. He also was increasingly despondent about having caused the crash. He took a long time to recover from his physical injuries and he was worried about the upcoming crash inquest. His father, the hot-shot pilot, was not supportive. He couldn’t understand how his son could have not known exactly where the plane was relative to the ground.
The first day, the investigatory board was not too bad. Canadian air safety investigators understood that the flying conditions were bad and that Erik was tired and stressed out for the trip. The next day Wapiti’s counsel questioned Erik and caught him misremembering the date of a flight a day before the day of the crash. Counsel also pointed out that Erik had plenty of time to sleep between flights; if he hadn’t, that was on him. Erik was shaken by the intense questioning that followed that implied that if he was careless about remembering his flights he probably made other mistakes. The point was to divert attention away from Wapiti’s shoddy maintenance record and insistence on flying in bad weather. It worked. Erik did admit that he made a navigation error and, rather than the mistake being explained by overwork and stress, it was just that he was a bad pilot.
The hearing ended with Erik Vogel’s reputation in tatters and his flying license suspended. Paul received a life-saving RCMP award at the end of the session.
Scott Deschamps spent a month on medical leave after he left the hospital. He was constantly thinking about the Old Man who visited him that night. He knew it was a big deal. He decided to take a careful look at his life. He was not happy being in the RCMP so he resigned and got a job as an immigration official. He had skipped college so now he enrolled. He and Mary had gotten married very young. After the crash they were distant, so they got divorced. He ended up rooming with Erik who was having trouble finding a job. The two of them went on a week-long hike on a western coastal trail.
When they got back, Erik finally had some good news. He was offered a six-week gig as a groundskeeper for a local housing authority. At the end of 1985, he had to testify at the fatality inquiry where he admitted that he shouldn't have flown that night, that he was exhausted. He should have put his foot down and refused to take off. But he didn’t do that so he took full responsibility for what happened that night.
Paul continued to be a national celebrity, appearing on talk shows and continuing to work at the restaurant. He started to go out with Sue, and they soon became engaged. Paul had suspicions that Sue was not being loyal and one night he saw her with another man, a local RCMP officer. Paul drove off in a rage, totaled his car, and was badly hurt. He was prescribed strong painkillers and one thing led to another as he became a drug addict. He and Sue reunited and broke up several times, but he finally walked out. His drug use eventually cost him his job at the pizza shop. Paul disappeared for two years.
Larry went back to his duties as Minister of Housing. The crash had made him even more committed to using his leadership position for good. He was especially concerned about the indigenous people and he created a major affordable housing program for the northern tribes He also visited the family of Elaine Noskeye, a First Nation mother of 14 who was killed in the crash.
Wapiti Airlines was shut down for a few months for safety issues so Larry had to make the long drive from High Prairie to the legislature in Edmonton. On one trip with his wife, Alma, with him, he pulled over to help a stopped car. It was probably a set-up as he was attacked mercilessly, probably because he was Muslim and the Middle East was starting to become a problem geopolitically. Alma flagged down cars to get help and she did. Ultimately, the thugs were pulled off Larry but he was badly hurt.
Erik got a job with a town fire department and also had another job driving trucks. He owed a lot of money as a result of the crash and needed to make as much money as he could. In late 1986, the Canadian Air Safety Board issued a report that looked at the reasons that so many small commuter planes crashed. Their findings didn’t surprise Erik. Planes crashed because the pilots were overworked and stressed out. They felt that they couldn't refuse to fly without losing their job. Companies played fast and loose with safety rules and practices.
The release of the report helped Erik figure out what he would do with his life. He would become an activist to improve airline safety. He would speak to business groups, schools, churches, civic groups, and to the media, all to educate people about what could be done to make small commercial flights safe. Eric had mixed results. He spoke to pilot training schools and was poorly received because what he was saying was bad for business. But many others heard him, and Canada did reform its small aircraft policies and procedures.
At the relatively young age of 33, Scott was working on his bucket list. He did finish college and managed to learn how to speak Mandarin which helped him on another bucket list task, going to China. He was there on June 4, 1989 when government troops fired on protesters in Tiananmen Square in Beijing, killing hundreds or thousands of people. No one got an accurate count. Scott was not hurt but was advised to go home which he did. Scott also traveled to Australia and Europe as he worked through his list. He was frustrated that he couldn't figure out the meaning of the Old Man who visited him on that memorable, terrifying October night in 1984.
Paul drifted from job to job and was homeless for much of the late 1980s. He made friends with a local reporter who found him charming. Paul worked at a drilling rig company for a while. His coworkers found him to be troubled but very likable and dependable. One female colleague said that “he had a heart of gold that had been badly damaged in his young life.”
In 1989 Larry Shaben was coming up for reelection and was considering stepping down. He had been in office since 1975. While he had been very successful in his various government roles, by the late 1980s, Canadian politics was turning partisan and nasty with increasing political polarization. He decided not to run again and to pursue an idea he had of using his extensive experience at getting programs up and running to help entrepreneurs create businesses. He was 55 years old so he could pursue another career.
Scott came back from his world travels and settled in Vancouver where, in the summer of 1990, Paul dropped by. He had aged quite a bit and still limped from his auto accident years before. He did have a new job but he couldn’t afford the work boots. Scott took him out to dinner and bought him boots and clothes and Paul left.
The author tracked down Andrew McNeil, a very successful businessman who years before was homeless and one of Paul’s friends. Andrew said that Paul was a tortured soul who despite having been a hero in the crash had no self-worth. McNeill believes that one winter night Paul got drunk and either fell asleep or passed out on a little-used road on the edge of town. He believes that heavy snow fell that night and covered Paul. The plows moved the snow and Paul‘s body to the side of the road where it remained undiscovered until the spring melt in May of 1991. He had died of exposure months before. He was 33 years old.
Over the next 15 years, each of the survivors worked to take advantage of the second chance each had been given by Paul as he kept them alive until they were rescued.
Scott got back to working in the criminal justice system but he worked with offenders to help turn their lives around instead of just arresting them. He got married and had children, completing another bucket list item. Growing up, Scott heard family members talk about a half-sister that he had in South Africa, the result of his father’s relationship with a woman there before he met Scott’s mother. It turned out that Paul did have a sibling in Africa. After years of research and digging, he found out where she was and contacted her. He visited her and they spent a long time catching up. He brought her to Vancouver to see his part of the world.
Erik advanced in the Barnaby (Alberta) Fire Department, eventually becoming a captain. He still occasionally drove long-distance trucks because the pay was good and he enjoyed it. He finally got back to flying tourists around the Vancouver area on weekends, although he was very happy as a firefighter and father so he moved away from being a pilot. He married and had three kids. The family lived in a big house with a big yard that had lots of animals including a pony which Erik took to birthday parties, delighting many kids.
Larry opened up a start-up consulting business to help people translate their good ideas into successful companies. Things went well at first, but he soon figured out that getting people to do what you told them to do was a lot easier when you were a high-level Minister in a provincial government than it was as a lone wolf. Eventually he retreated from that effort and got active in his mosque that he had abandoned decades before. He created a non-profit organization to bridge the gaps between people of different faiths. He also fell back on his experience as Minister of Housing to raise a lot of money to build affordable housing in Edmonton. After September 11, 2001, he organized various faith groups in Edmonton and around Alberta to work to calm down the rousing anti-Muslim sentiments created by 9/11. Edmonton was the only major Canadian city that did not have confrontations with Muslims after the attack.
Twenty years after the crash, Larry, Scott, and Erik had lunch in Vancouver. It was a grand affair that celebrated the almost spiritual bonding they achieved during their night awaiting rescue. Scott still had a bump on his head from hitting the plane’s bulkhead. Erik’s fingers that were mangled when the plane went down were getting arthritic although he was only 44 years old. Larry’s back never completely recovered and he was getting older, 70 years old at the lunch.
They planned to get together again but they never did, although they did keep in touch. Larry died in 2008 of cancer.
Scott talked about how the night of the crash had been a rebirth for all of them. “My whole life changed in an instant. When I get unfocused, or fuzzy in my priorities, or stressed, disappointed or out of sorts, I just have to take my mind back to that time and things become clear. Clarity of thought comes when you’re lying on a mountain, dying. That’s when you’re honest, authentically pure in your thoughts. Not too many people have that experience.”
Bob’s Take
Getting the news. The author, journalist Carol Shaben, was in Jerusalem in October, 1984, when she read a small piece in the newspaper about a plane crash in Alberta that took the life of a party leader, Grant Notley. She read that her father, provincial housing minister Larry Shaben, was among those rescued.
She talked to her father about the accident, and she became very interested in what happened and how that had changed things for the survivors and the commuter airline industry. It took her a long time to find a publisher, but the resultant book was well received.
The back cover gives it away. Before you begin the book, by reading the back cover, you know who survived. Despite that,<em> Into the Abyss </em>really holds your interest. Reviewers praised Carol Shaben for her knowledge of how commuter airline companies operate and how small-craft pilots think while flying. There is a lot going on, even when the weather conditions are good. In rain, snow and fog, things get really complicated.
What abyss? The Washington Post reviewer praised the book but had trouble with the title because the plane didn't crash into an abyss. He missed the point. The abyss refers to the problems each of the survivors had as a result of the crash. The first abyss was the night they spent waiting to be rescued. Things were really bleak for all of them, since there was no way they could know if help was on the way. They were on the edge, confronting their mortality.
Other post-crash challenges were abysses that had to be conquered.
Erik Vogel, who caused the crash, had major PTSD from the accident which dominated his life for many years. Erik had become a pariah as a result of the crash investigation and couldn’t find a job for a long time.
Paul Archambault, the prisoner who saved everyone, had trouble dealing with his fame and never really got his act together. He also had long-term PTSD from his abusive upbringing. He flipped out when his fiancé cheated on him and ended up having a horrible accident that led to a short life of addiction, unemployment and homelessness. He hadn’t been seen for four months before his body was found but no one reported him missing.
Scott Deschamps seemed to be the least affected, but surviving the accident completely changed his approach to life. He left the police, went to college, got out of a stagnant marriage, and found his half-sister in Africa. He also couldn't forget the Old Man who visited him when he thought he would die. He worked on trying to figure out what that visitation meant. Along the way, he did have experiences outdoors and, on the ocean, when he felt the presence of something much bigger than himself. It is interesting that for his master’s degree he studied miracles and angels.
Larry Shaben had done a lot of good things in his life before getting on the plane that stormy October night, but surviving the crash made him even more focused on doing more with his life. He saw politics as increasingly vitriolic and partisan so he ended up working in the nonprofit sector to build affordable homes and housing for the homeless in Edmonton. He also became a community and national leader in bringing people of different faiths together for the common good. <strong> </strong>
