Jasper-Walker County-Bevill Field

The Mitsubishi MU-300 Diamond business jet was on an instrument flight rules (IFR) flight from Williams Lake, British Columbia, to Hinton, Alberta. There were two pilots and two passengers on board. Prior to issuing the descent clearance from flight level 270 (FL270), the Edmonton Area Control Centre (ACC) advised the crew of the Jasper townsite, Alberta, weather. The winds were reported as calm. The crew cancelled the IFR during the descent and continued for a visual approach and landing to runway 02 at the Jasper-Hinton Airport. During the approach, the crew encountered moderate turbulence on short final. The captain increased the reference airspeed (Vref) from 105 to 115 knots to allow for subsiding air and airspeed fluctuations. The crew noted that the wind sock for runway 02 was fully extended and was varying in direction frequently. They elected to continue the approach and landing on runway 02. Power was reduced to idle at 50 feet. The aircraft touched down at about 1,000 feet down the runway. During the landing roll, the captain first applied maximum braking and then, when he determined that the aircraft would not come to a stop in the remaining runway distance available, he initiated commanded swerving to assist in stopping the aircraft; the aircraft skidded to a position 255 feet off the end of the runway. The aircraft sustained substantial damage; however, the occupants were uninjured. The accident occurred at latitude 53°19'N, longitude 117°45'W, at an elevation of 4,016 feet above sea level (asl), at 0920 mountain standard time (MST), during the hours of daylight.

The pilot obtained a weather briefing for his proposed flight from Birmingham, AL to Jasper, AL to Allentown, PA. He did not file a flight plan for the 35 mile flight from Birmingham to Jasper, however, he did file a flight plan for the proposed flight from Jasper to Allentown. He stated that he 'felt like he got a little slow and the tail stalled' during his VFR landing approach at Jasper. The aircraft contacted the ground at the east end of the east-west runway on a northerly track. The aircraft continued on the northerly track for 288 feet before colliding with trees. The aircraft was destroyed by the post crash fire. Witnesses reported fog in the area and the pilot reported that he had encountered patches of fog on the flight from Birmingham.

Shortly after climbing and leveling at 6,000 feet, the right engine bmep gage indicated a rapid power loss and the right engine rpm 'increased out of control' to about 3,100 rpm. The aircrew retarded the right throttle and reduced the right engine to 2,100 rpm by using the prop increase/decrease toggle switch. The aircrew were unable to feather the right propeller or maintain altitude, so they diverted to the nearest airport (Walker County). While turning downwind for runway 09, the right engine fire indicator activated and the copilot confirmed a fire. Both fire bottles were discharged and the right propeller stopped rotating. Injection water for the left engine was exhausted and the left engine began backfiring. The captain then maneuvered and landed on runway 27. After touchdown, the right main tires failed, the aircraft veered off the right side of the runway and hit a ditch and the gear collapsed. An exam revealed the #6 cylinder link rod and/or piston in the right engine had failed, resulting in further damage to the engine and #6 cylinder. Subsequently, fire and heat caused the right engine to seize and also damaged the right main tires which failed at touchdown. All 39 occupants were evacuated, among them two passengers were seriously injured.