For many who were in Moose Jaw on April 8th, 1954, they can close their eyes and picture it like it was yesterday. 

It seemed as though the whole world stopped around 10 a.m. that morning when two aircrafts collided over top of our city resulting in many fatalities. 

With the 65th anniversary of the crash, the Moose Jaw Museum and Art Gallery recently took to social media to share the contents of their permanent exhibit called Like a Falling Leaf.

"A pilot was on his solo trip, leaving 15 Wing. He had no radio contact that was a part of his training. There was a passenger airline that was going between Winnipeg and flying to Calgary; it was about 12 hours late. At that particular time in 1954, there was a flight path over Moose Jaw and somehow the two aeroplanes collided," explained Christy Schweiger, with the Museum and Art Gallery. 

The pilot who left 15 Wing in a Royal Canadian Air Force Havard was named Thomas Andrew Thorrat. There were also 31 people on board the other aircraft. The only person who passed away on land was Moose Jaw citizen Martha Hadwen, who was cleaning a nearby home at the time of the crash when a piece of one aircraft hit the Hume home and burst into flames, which resulted in the death of Mrs Hadwen. 

Schweiger noted that each milestone year is important such as the 65th this year, but every year that passes is notable as this was an important part of Moose Jaw's history. 

"For our community, we have to pay tribute to all of these people and we can't forget. It's a remembrance. With me, every five or six years I'll do a school program where kids can learn about not only the good things but the sad tragic things that our community needs to remember."

The exhibit came to life on the 50th anniversary of the crash and since that day pictures, newspaper clippings, testimonials, and physical objects that were aboard the planes have been donated to the museum.

One of the most notable changes that took place following the collision on April 8th was new legislation that was implemented, which stated that no aircraft would be authorized to fly over our city going forward. 

"Transport Canada did a number of changes so that planes wouldn't fly over Moose Jaw directly; people probably notice that. That was an important thing because that particular day one of the possible scenarios is one of the schools could have been hit - but through great effort, I believe by the pilot, he missed the school where there could have been even more deaths from that event," said Schweiger.

One gentleman who has set out to collect all the information he can about the incident is Vancouver's, Keath Hutton. Hutton has dedicated countless hours to this because his father, Charles Hutton was aboard the aircraft carrying almost thirty passengers and lost his life that day in 1954. 

Hutton still has his father's wallet and watch that were recovered from the body, but Hutton also added that a camera was returned to their family home after the crash. That camera now sits proudly within the local Museum and Art Gallery on display in almost perfect condition after falling from the sky. 

He came back to Moose Jaw a few years back after being invited by the author of Mid-Air Moose Jaw, a book that details the crash and those involved, Larry Shaak. Upon the invitation, Hutton and his family made a trip to the Notorious City to discover as an adult where his father's body fell. 

"I emailed him and he phoned me the next morning in Vancouver and he said 'Keath, you should come back here - there's this museum and all this kind of

stuff'. That's where I got the idea of donating the camera. We came back and the first day Larry drove us around the city, and we actually went to the Hume residence," explained Hutton. "My daughter actually figured out where they found my dad. He was in the backyard near the fence of the Hume residence. So (Larry) drive us to the exact spot where they found my dad."

Back in during the time of the crash, Hutton's father owned and engineering business, which Hutton said led him to travel all over the world. His father was extremely busy during the war, but when it was over he had to work very hard to keep his business going. 

"The company was not doing well as it was...he wasn't supposed to be on the plane. He was supposed to be coming home the next day, but he was rushing to get home so he got on the earlier flight. He wouldn't have been dead if he would have got on when he planned to travel," said Hutton. 

He was first alerted to the exhibit as he stumbled upon it online as there is a virtual tour of the exhibit for anyone to view. But those who want to have a more personal experience to learn about Moose Jaw's history need to view Like a Falling Leaf in person, as they can see pictures of the people who are gone but not forgotten, look at charred letters that were on the flight, and hear the stories of residents in Moose Jaw who remember watching this devastating event unfold and seeing pieces of it fall from the sky.