The Story

Exploding mid-air on July 8, 1965, Canadian Pacific Flight 21 plummeted into the woods in the B.C. Interior, killing all 52 people aboard. While police determined a bomb brought down the passenger plane — and four suspects were at the top of the list — no charges were laid. This was CBC Podcasts’ second season of Uncover, and its first co-production with The National.

Role

I was the Lead Producer in Vancouver, while most of our team was based in Toronto. My role involved intense problem solving and logistics for a week of challenging field recording in the middle of a wildfire zone, which included coming up with emergency evacuation plans, back up plans for a grounded small aircraft, and accounting for bears in the area. I worked closely with the families of victims to ensure our reporting was sensitive and not sensational, which is a delicate balance in true crime reporting. It was also the first time CBC had done a crossover project between podcasting and television documentary, so my role was to insure that both mediums collected the content they needed and develop best practises for future collaborations.

Achievements

2019 RTDNA Network Award: Multiplatform: Best Original/ Enterprise Journalism
Named as one of the best true crime podcasts of the year by CrimeReads