A lack of training possible cause of plane crash: Grumman American AA-5 Traveler, CF-RRO, Ganaraska Forest, Canada

 

Investigators look through the wreckage of a plane that crashed in the Ganaraska Forest last week. 

Submitted photo

Lack of training might have played a role in last week’s fatal plane crash in the Ganaraska Forest. Peter Rowntree, a senior regional investigator with the Transportation Safety Board, said the pilot, a 61-year-old man from Quebec, had a valid pilot’s license and his night rating, an accreditation that permitted him to fly at night.

But he didn’t have his instrument rating, an accreditation given to those who can pilot a plane using only the plane’s instruments.

All pilots are trained on instruments when they get their license, Rowntree said. But learning how to fly using only those instruments in zero-visibility is something else.

“It’s a whole different skill set,” he said.

The pilot was flying at night, and the increasingly bad weather and worsening visibility would have required him to use those skills, Rowntree said.

“He needed to rely on his instruments, and he wasn’t trained on those instruments,” he said.

But, Rowntree cautioned, it’s likely no one will ever know for sure what brought the plane down. No recording devices were on board and investigators couldn’t find any mechanical issues with the plane.

The plane was reported missing after it failed to arrive at Markham’s Buttonville Airport at its scheduled 11 p.m. arrival time on May 7.

The four-seater, low wing plane was traveling from St-Mathieu De Beloeil in Quebec. When it didn't arrive the Buttonville airport notified the Joint Rescue Co-ordination Centre in Trenton.

The wreck was discovered in the Ganaraska Forest south-west of Millbrook on May 11 following an extensive four-day search.

The plane likely had an emergency locator transmitter on board. but a post-crash fire destroyed much of the plane, Rowntree said, including that device.

The Transportation Safety Board won’t be investigating the crash any further after it hands its information to the coroner’s office. The incident isn’t considered a public safety issue. 

Source:  http://www.durhamregion.com