Kenneth Morley Laughland (1932 – 1963.)
Kenneth Morley Laughland was born in Manitoba. He enlisted in the RCMP in November 1951 and served in British Columbia. Sergeant Laughland transferred to Whitehorse in 1962 as head pilot of the Whitehorse Air Section. He and his wife Denise had a daughter and a son.1)
In July 1963, Laughland tried to land a plane in Carmacks and was making a second round when the plane spun over in unusually high winds and crashed to the ground where it burst into flames. Laughland and four other on-duty RCMP officers were killed in the crash: Corporal Robert W. Asbi, Constable Proctor L. A. Malcolm, Constable William J. D. Annand, and Constable Laurance Malcolm. Also killed was a prisoner, Joseph Philippe Clement Desormeaux, who had just appeared as a trial witness in Mayo. A marker was placed at the site in 1963 and a cairn was installed in 1966. A bronze plaque was installed at the base of the Whitehorse flagpole in 1963. An anniversary service was held in August 2013 and direct descendants of the RCMP officers killed were able to attend.2)