Thomas Gordon Stephens
Tommy Stephens was hired as a pilot by the Yukon Airways and Exploration Company in 1928. He was an experience pilot and mechanic from Ontario.1)
Yukon Airways was Yukon’s first commercial air service. Andrew “Andy” Cruikshank was the pilot and he had First World War experience. The company started service with the Queen of the Yukon in October but by December the plane was down due to cold weather problems. In the spring, the plane was ready to go with new pilot Tommy Stephens.2) He re-established the airline’s service, flying from Mayo to Whitehorse in April 1929.3)
Stephens flew the first light cargo flights from Whitehorse to Carcross, Atlin, Engineer Mine, and Ben-My-Cree. On 5 May 1928, a month after the plane being back in service, Stephens was landing at Whitehorse in a gusty crosswind. The plane crashed into the company’s Model T Ford while the agent Billy Puckett ran for his life.4) One passenger suffered severe injuries, but Stephens and his wife had only bruises. The plane had had less than two dozen commercial flights.5)
Stevens left the company and went to work for Treadwell Yukon Mining Company. On 13 October, Tommy Stephens flew the Moth “Rilla Martha” on the first official airmail flight from Whitehorse to Mayo, Keno, and Wernecke. Stephens left Treadwell Yukon in March 1930 and relocated to Toronto to become a Civil Aviation Inspector for the Department of Defense. His place in the Yukon was taken by Everett Wasson.6)