Willy Laserich

Willy Laserich was born on September 9. 1932 in the town of Neisse, Silesia, then part of Germany and now part of Poland. He was one of 12 children, six sons and six daughters born to his parents, Paul and Elisabeth. At 19, with some training as a machinist and knowing only a little English, he emigrated to Canada by himself.

In 1957 Willy obtained his private pilot's license at the Edmonton Flying Club and flew for the next 50 years with an unblemished safety record. While still in Edmonton he met British-born Margaret Bunce and married her on April 24, 1958. Two days later they moved to Hay River, beginning a lifetime in the North.

Willy first "worked as a diesel mechanic and flew his own Stinson, and later a Norseman, hauling fish for companies in the Northwest Territories from 1957 to 1964. Later, based in Cambridge Bay, Nunavut, for most of his career, a few years before his last flight he quit entering time in his log book at 44,000 hours! He flew with Pacific Western Airlines from Fort Rae, Yellowknife and Cambridge Bay and as a pilot and base manager with Northward Aviation Ltd. at Cambridge Bay. With Pelly Bay Co-op from 1971-74 as a DC-4 pilot, he provided air service to remote communities.

In 1973 Willy started his own companies, Altair Leasing and Adlair Aviation Ltd., flying freight and passengers in his capacity as chief pilot and operations manager. At one time, Adlair hauled up to 60,000 pounds of Arctic char per year from northern sites to Cambridge Bay for distribution throughout North America.

Willy and Margaret saw their two sons, Paul and Rene, earn a pilot's license while in their teens. Daughter Joanne worked as the company's base manager at Cambridge Bay and was succeeded in that position recently by her own daughter, Jesce. Completing the family, an Inuit girl, Bessie, was adopted by Willy and Margaret. Today, Paul managed Adlair Aviation until his death on November 19, 2011. Rene, like his father, serves as a pilot and operations manager.

During his career, Willy flew more than 3,000 medevac flights, was involved in more than 100 search and rescue operations, and saw six babies born aboard his aircraft while he was in the air. For many years his aircraft provided the only link for some communities in the Central Arctic. He piloted a variety of aircraft, including the Stinson 108-3, Fairchild 82, Bellanca Skyrocket, Avro Anson, Noordyn Norseman, Cessna 180, Beaver, Single Otter, Beech 18, Dornier 28, Douglas DC-4 and DC-6, Twin Otter, and Beech King Air 90 and 100. He was the first to bring a Lear Jet into the Arctic.

With vast experience and knowledge of geography and weather, Willy flew medevacs and other rescue missions when no one else would. His skill earned him the moniker, "King of the Medevacs."  In one month alone he flew a record 32 medevac nights.

Writer Margo Pfeiff, in Up Here magazine, wrote that, "Based in Cambridge Bay, Nunavut for most of his career, Laserich clocked the equivalent of 800 trips around the globe - in some of the most brutal weather on Earth. He hauled his planes out of axle-deep mud and survived winter nights on the tundra after emergency landings. Laserich rescued lost trappers, injured hunters and downed pilots. He hauled musk-ox and whale meat to community feasts, carried corpses to funerals and prisoners to jail. But it's for medical evacuations that Laserich became a household name in the Arctic."

Willy is remembered by pilots and nurses who flew with him as a safety-conscious pilot providing life-saving services to isolated northern communities. His talents as a pilot, his vast experience and his knowledge of Arctic geography and weather contributed to his uncanny skill in flying rescue operations.

In 1997 Willy was presented with Honourary Life Membership in the Northern Air Transport Association in recognition of his outstanding leadership and contribution to the development of aviation North of 60. He also earned the respect of northerners as a gentleman who was courteous, competent and committed to his work. While knowing the importance of pilots, he recognized the contribution by others, emphasizing that the most important people behind the work of the pilots were the engineers who deserved credit for success in flights. In Cambridge Bay, the Willy Laserich Memorial Corporate Citizen Award is named for him.

But the ATC was not amused. In 1977, Laserich was hit with 250 charges for providing services without a license, even if flights were made in emergency or life-saving situations. Each charge carried a possible fine of $5,000 and up to a year in jail. A long and expensive trial followed. Finally, most charges were dropped and in 1982 Willy was fined a total of $250 and given the rest of his life to pay it! He never did. Someone else paid the penalty for him.

But the trial left Willy broke. He had to give up his Douglas DC-4 and DC-6 aircraft, two Twin Otters and a single Otter -when the bank called the loan on 48 hours notice. Undeterred, Willy and his family began to rebuild the company in 1983 with formation of Adlair Aviation (1983) Ltd. by sons Paul and Rene, operating from Cambridge Bay.

Today Adlair Aviation offers charter service throughout the north in addition to flying freight and passengers "while on call 24 hours a day." With a flight base in Cambridge Bay and administrative offices in Yellowknife, Adlair aircraft include a Lear Jet and three King Air turboprop aircraft equipped for medevac service, and a Twin Otter capable of landing on snow or tundra.

Ironically, Willy was flown in a medevac flight from Cambridge Bay in his own Lear Jet with his son Rene at the controls and his other son, Paul, at his side. On November 12, 2007, Willy died in an Edmonton hospital following complications after surgery for heart failure. He is survived by his wife Margaret, his son Rene & daughter Joanne of Cambridge Bay and daughter Bessie of Yellowknife.

In providing service which he felt was needed in the north, he often ran afoul of authority for defying regulations. In the 1970s he repeatedly applied for a charter license to allow him to fly from Cambridge Bay, but was always turned down by the Air Transport Committee in Ottawa. This led to Willy and those who flew for him being known as "Willy and his Bandits", a term coined by Willy himself.

Willy Laserich was inducted as a Member of Canada’s Aviation Hall of Fame on June 10, 2010 at a ceremony held in Vancouver, B.C..