A Keystone Air Service plane which crashed and killed four people and injured one at North Spirit Lake happened because of icing conditions and pilot inexperience.
Peter Hildebrand of the Transportation Safety Board of Canada gives an update of the crash investigation in North Spirit Lake.
"Pilots need to be aware of what their aircraft is capable of doing," he said.
Hildebrand said the flight from Winnipeg to the northwestern Ontario community was routine until they arrived and discovered the airport staff were still clearing snow from the runway from a blizzard overnight.
He said this caused the plane to stay in the air an extra 25 minutes in icing conditions in thick clouds.
The 29-page report says even after damage from the crash and fire, investigators still found ice on the right wing meaning "a significant amount of ice accumulated" which led to the plane not able to stay aloft.
Pilot Fariborz Abasabady, 41, North Spirit Lake First Nation employee Martha Campbell, 38, Aboriginal Strategies president Ben Van Hoek, 62, and accountant Colette Eisinger, 39, all died in the crash.
Lone survivor Brian Shead, who needed surgery for injuries to his ankle and foot, tried in vain to extricate others, but was only successful in getting the pilot out before flames consumed the wreckage.
Hildebrand said Keystone now sends two pilots to fly planes heading into instrument only flight conditions.
As well, Keystone has told all of its pilots that they are supposed to fly the planes out of icing conditions when encountered.
http://www.winnipegfreepress.com
The Transportation Safety Board of Canada will release its report tomorrow on what caused the crash of a Keystone Air Service Piper Navajo into North Spirit Lake killing four and injuring one on Jan. 10, 2012.
Up until now, it has been unknown exactly what caused the crash, but days after the plane went down the TSB issued an initial report which said the aircraft’s landing gear and flaps were down as it appeared ready to land at the reserve in northwestern Ontario.
Pilot Fariborz Abasabady, 41, North Spirit Lake First Nation employee Martha Campbell, 38, Aboriginal Strategies president Ben Van Hoek, 62, and accountant Colette Eisinger, 39, all lost their lives in the crash.
Brian Shead, who was 36 at the time of the crash and needed surgery for injuries to his ankle and foot, tried in vain to extricate others, but was only successful in getting the pilot out before flames consumed the wreckage.
Source: http://www.winnipegfreepress.com
