Coroner releases report into Nelson pilot’s death
The pilot who died when his plane went down near Crawford Bay experienced bad weather this summer before the crash.
The BC Coroner’s office released its report the case of Anthony (Tony) Quibell this week.
The 53-year-old local man died when his Cessna Skymaster 337 airplane crashed near Crawford Bay. Quibell was the lone occupant in the plane, full of fuel, which took off from the Nelson Airport at 1:30 p.m. on June 12 intending to fly to La Ronge, Saskatchewan.
His six-hour flight was cut tragically short when his plane crashed in “high-treed terrain” and burst into flames upon impact. Quibell died at the scene.
Coroner Jed Maddock concluded that Quibell died of “blunt force trauma and thermal exposure as the result of an aircraft crash and subsequent post-crash fire.”
The cause of the crash was due to a frontal system that had moved into the Crawford Bay valley at the time of the accident creating rain and low visibility.
“The crash site’s position was within a few hundred metres of Rose Pass and well below the surrounding mountain tops, and is consistent with deteriorating weather limiting the pilot’s ability to climb higher while maintaining visual reference to the terrain,” wrote Maddock in his report.
Calling Quibell a “very experienced” pilot the coroner said he had over 4,000 hours flying time of which about 450 hours were in this type of aircraft. The plane was also in “good mechanical condition” at the time of the flight.
http://www.nelsonstar.com
Anthony QUIBELL
Obituary
June 6, 1960 – June 12, 2013
Tony Quibell, 53, of Nelson, B.C., died June 12, 2013 in a plane crash near Crawford Bay, B.C. Tony was born to Lee (Pocha) and Arnold Quibell in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan on June 6, 1960. He graduated from Walter Murray Collegiate in Saskatoon in 1978. Tony worked as an equipment operator and foreman for Quibell Trenchways from 1978 to 1987. During this time he got his pilot license, bought his first airplane and became certified as a scuba diver. In 1987 his father started Western Canada Wholesale Motor Products where Tony worked as a manager and mechanic. In 1988 the family moved to Edmonton where Tony worked for Whissel Construction and Sunrise Trenching. He continued to be involved with aviation by flying for the Vermillion Parachute Club where he also obtained his sky diving certification. In 1989 the family moved to La Ronge, Saskatchewan where he apprenticed as an aircraft engineer at Norcanair/Athabaska Airways. In 1993 he obtained his Aircraft Mechanical Engineer certificate in Portage La Prairie, Manitoba. He continued to work in La Ronge for Athabaska Airlines, Canadian Lake Wild Rice and Northern Air Operations. In 1999 the family moved to Nelson, B.C. He worked as a pilot and AME for Nelson Mountain Air, Babin Air in Invermere and Selkirk College in Castlegar. In 2004 he obtained certification to work on rotary wing aircraft. In 2005 he established Southern Aircraft Services offering aircraft charter services and a Transport Canada approved aircraft maintenance facility. His passions were riding his 1979 Kawasaki 1000 MK11 and skiing in the fantastic conditions Nelson offered. Tony is survived by his parents, Lee (Dave) Galbraith and Arnie Quibell, his sisters, Valoree (Keith) Barwell and Donna (Dean) Wright, his brothers, Shawn (Stacey) Quibell and Darren (Maxine Hadubiak) Quibell, his children Andrew (Lacey MacMillan) Quibell, Ryan Quibell and Jamie Quibell, their mother, Alana Armstrong-Quibell, his love Wendy Baker-Konkin and her children, Cole Baker, Roxanne Baker and Marina Baker. In lieu of flowers donations may be made to BC Search and Rescue at www.bcsara.com. A memorial service will be held on Friday July 5, 2013 at the Prestige Lakeside Resort at 2 p.m. Online condolences may be expressed at www.thompsonfs.ca. Funeral arrangements are under the direction of Thompson Funeral Service Ltd.
Tony Quibell, 53, had a picture of this airplane on his Facebook page.
Photo Courtesy and Credit: Facebook
The local aviation community is in shock after one the region’s most experienced pilots died in a crash last Wednesday.
Anthony (Tony) Quibell, 53, died when his Cessna Skymaster 337 airplane crashed near Crawford Bay. Quibell was the lone occupant in the plane that took off from the Nelson Airport at 1:30 p.m. on June 12 intending to fly to La Ronge, Saskatchewan. His six-hour flight was cut tragically short when his plane crashed in “high-treed terrain.” Quibell died at the scene.
“It was a real shock, he’s a very gifted and experienced pilot,” said Case Grypma, a longtime Nelson Pilots’ Association member and past president of the local association.
“As a group, we really offer our condolences to the family and our support. Tony was a really big part of the airport and he will be really missed as a pilot, a friend and an aircraft engineer.”
Quibell operated an aircraft repair business and contracted to the Ministry of Forests for forest fire spotting duty.
“He was one of the pilots right on the frontline of protection here, he is really going to be missed,” said Grypma.
Quibell’s plane was reported missing on Wednesday evening when it failed to arrive at its destination. Early the next morning the wreckage of the plane was spotted in a heavily treed area at the 6,500-foot level of a mountain near Crawford Bay. The BC Coroners Service and the Transportation Safety Board continue to investigate the accident.
Quibell has three children in their 20s and was originally from Saskatchewan. His Facebook page paints a picture of a man very active in the outdoors who loved aviation, motorcycles and skiing.
Grypma said Quibell was passionate about flight and did everything he could to ensure others enjoyed it as much as he did.
“He would drop whatever he was doing and help somebody, he was just that kind of guy,” said Grypma. “He was a reserved, but always there for you.”
Grypma said Quibell was no stranger to the part of the Kootenays where his plane crashed.
“It was basically his backyard where he crashed, he knew that area very well,” said Grypma.
Though he did not want to speculate too much on the specifics of what happened last week, Grypma said from his experience it’s a challenging area to fly.
“The weather that day was up and down,” said Grypma. “The east side of the lake, the mountains on that side, are kind of a weather factory. You can get really nasty downdrafts and the weather can change so quickly.”
Transportation Safety Board investigations can take up to a year. When this one is finished, Grypma hopes his friend’s death will help ensure future accidents don’t take place.
“I just hope that Transport Canada will be able to determine exactly what happened, whether it was mechanical or weather related,” he said. “As an industry we need to learn from this and that is why the investigations take so long because they need to make sure they get all the facts right. Any lessons to be learned are then disseminated and put into the curriculum of Transport Canada’s accident avoidance program.
“There is no point in assigning blame, it’s about finding a better way to things and improve the safety record of general aviation.”
Though it is a sad time around the Nelson airport, Grypma said those involved in flying know of the risks each time they lift their airplane’s wheels off the ground.
“Everytime you go flying there is an inherent risk, especially when you do it as a living,” said Grypma. “The longer you are involved in aviation, the higher chance somebody you know is going to have an accident.”
Source: http://www.nelsonstar.com
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