Medal of Bravery

• Awarded on: December 1, 1975
• Invested on: February 16, 1976

Captain Vernon Ehman, M.B., Pointe-Claire, Quebec
Medal of Bravery

On November 12, 1971, when the lives of his passengers and crew were endangered by an armed hijacker who had boarded an Air Canada DC8 out of Calgary, Alberta, Flight Captain Vernon Ehman exhibited the finest example of cool-headedness and airmanship, and succeeded in overpowering the gunman, thus bringing the drama to an end without loss of life. While under considerable pressure from the hijacker who was prepared to blow up the aircraft unless his demands were fully satisfied, Capt. Ehman took every measure to avoid a disaster, and managed to win the hijacker's confidence during moments of extreme tension. At several thousand feet above the outskirts of Calgary, when the hijacker imperilled the lives of the crew by ordering that a main door be opened, Capt. Ehman convinced him to use an emergency hatch for his escape. As the hijacker was busily engaged in preparing his parachute and had momentarily laid his gun aside, the Capt. flung the weapon down the aisle and seized the man. The hijacker resisted savagely but the Capt., with the assistance of the crew, subdued him and tied him securely, so that he ceased to be of any further danger.