OFF BEAT: Pilot wants workers comp for 1953 plane crash

A 91-year-old Canadian pilot wants workers compensation benefits for an accident that happened nearly 60 years ago while flying a crop duster over Manitoba farmland.

His plane hit a wire in the summer of 1953 and the ensuing crash shattered both his ankles, sending him to the hospital for months, according to news reports.

Back then, Len Fisher didn’t know workers comp existed. But a friend recently convinced him to file a claim, which could help him pay off some debts.

So Mr. Fisher, who uses a cane and cannot stand for long, gathered some old photos and a newspaper story about the accident, along with hospital bills, and took them to his area’s Workers Compensation Board office.

He is in need of funds and doesn’t have anything to lose by filing a claim, he reportedly told a newspaper.

According to provincial law, a claim must normally be filed within a year of an accident, but there are a few exceptions for certain cases.

The Workers Compensation Board of Manitoba is currently considering whether Mr. Fisher’s claim is one of those cases and whether the company he was flying for when the accident occurred was even insured.