Canada

On 17 January 2004, the occurrence pilot started his workday in Toronto, Ontario, reporting for duty at 0445 eastern standard time. In the morning, he completed flights in the Cessna 208B Caravan from Toronto to Windsor, Ontario, Windsor to Pelee Island, Ontario, and then Pelee Island to Windsor where the aircraft landed at 0916. At approximately 1500, the pilot received local weather and passenger information by telephone from the Pelee Island office personnel. The 1430 weather was reported as follows: ceiling 500 feet obscured, visibility two miles. There were eight male passengers for pick up at Pelee Island. One additional passenger was travelling with the pilot. There was no discussion concerning the amount of cargo to be carried or the passenger weights. At 1508, the pilot received a faxed weather package that he had requested from the Flight Information Centre (FIC) in London, Ontario. At 1523, the aircraft was refuelled in preparation for the scheduled 1600 departure to Pelee Island. The passengers were loaded earlier than usual to allow time for aircraft de-icing, as wet snow had accumulated on the fuselage and wings since the previous flight. At 1555, the aircraft was de-iced with Type 1 de-icing fluid, and it departed for Pelee Island at 1605 on an instrument flight rules (IFR) flight plan as Flight GGN125. At 1615, the pilot advised the Cleveland Control Centre, Ohio, United States, that he had Pelee Island in sight, was cancelling IFR, and was descending out of 5000 feet. The pilot also advised Cleveland that he would be departing IFR out of Pelee Island in about 20 minutes as GGN126 and asked if a transponder code could be issued. The Cleveland controller issued a transponder code and requested a call when GGN126 became airborne. The pilot advised that the flight would depart on Runway 27 then turn north. These were the last recorded transmissions from the aircraft. The aircraft landed at 1620. While on the ramp, two individuals voiced concern to the pilot that there was ice on the wing. Freezing precipitation was falling. The pilot was observed to visually check the leading edge of the wing; however, he did not voice any concern and proceeded with loading the passengers and cargo. At approximately 1638, GGN126 departed Pelee Island for Windsor. After using most of the runway length for take-off, the aircraft climbed out at a very shallow angle. No one on the ground observed the aircraft once it turned toward the north; however, witnesses who were not at the airport reported that they heard the sound of a crash, then no engine noise. A normal flight from Pelee Island to Windsor in the Cessna Caravan takes 15 to 20 minutes. Shortly after the aircraft departed, the ticket agent in Windsor received a call from Pelee Island reporting that a crash had been heard. At 1705, when the aircraft had not arrived, the ticket agent called Windsor tower. The pilot had not made contact with any air traffic services (ATS) facility immediately before or after departure, so there was nothing in the ATS system to indicate that the aircraft had taken off. It was, therefore, unaccounted for. There was no signal heard from the emergency locator transmitter (ELT). At 1710, the Windsor tower controller contacted the Rescue Coordination Centre in Trenton, Ontario, and a search was initiated. At 1908, the aircraft empennage and debris were spotted by a United States Coast Guard (USCG) helicopter on the frozen surface of the lake, about 1.6 nautical miles (nm) from the departure end of the runway. There were no survivors. The empennage sank beneath the surface some four hours later. The wreckage recovery was not fully completed until 13 days later.

On take off roll on runway 25 at dusk, left wing struck a snowbank on left side of the runway. Aircraft veered off runway and came to rest in snow with its nose gear sheared off and several damages to the fuselage. Both pilots were uninjured.

At approximately 0900 eastern standard time (EST), the pilot arrived at the airstrip and prepared the ski-equipped de Havilland DHC–3 (Otter) aircraft (registration C–GOFF, serial number 65) for the morning flight. This Otter was equipped with a turbine engine. Two passengers, with enough supplies for an extended period of time, including a snowmobile and camping gear, were to be flown to a remote location. The pilot loaded the aircraft and waited for the weather to improve. At approximately 1200 EST, the pilot and passengers boarded the aircraft and took off in an easterly direction. The aircraft got airborne near the departure end of the airstrip, and, shortly after take-off, the right wing struck a number of small bushes and the top of a birch tree. The aircraft descended and struck the frozen lake surface, approximately 70 feet below the airfield elevation in a steep, nose-down, right-wing-low attitude. When it came to rest, the aircraft was inverted and partially submerged, with only the aft section of the fuselage remaining above the ice. All of the occupants were wearing lap belts. The pilot and front seat passenger received fatal injuries. The rear seat passenger survived the impact and evacuated the aircraft with some difficulty due to leg injuries. The following morning, about 22 hours after the accident, a local air operator searching for the missing aircraft located and rescued the surviving passenger.

The PA-31-310, registration C-FARL, serial number 31306, operated by Les Ailes de Gaspé Inc., with one pilot and two passengers on board, was on a visual flight rules flight from Îles-de-la-Madeleine, Quebec to Gaspé, Quebec. While en route to Gaspé, the pilot was informed about weather conditions at his destination, which were a ceiling at 500 feet and visibility of ¾ mile in fog. The pilot requested clearance for an instrument approach, which he received at approximately 1857 eastern daylight time. A few seconds later the pilot switched on the aerodrome lights with his microphone button. That was the last radio transmission received from the aircraft. When the aircraft did not arrive at its destination, emergency procedures were initiated to find it. The wreckage was found the next day at 1028 eastern daylight time on a hilltop 1.2 nautical miles (nm) north-east of the airport. The aircraft was destroyed, but did not catch fire. The three occupants were fatally injured.

The Alta Flights Cessna 414A (registration C-GVZE, serial number 414A0219) departed Cranbrook, British Columbia, at approximately 1910 mountain daylight time (MDT) on a visual flight rules cargo flight to Calgary, Alberta. The aircraft disappeared from the Calgary area radar at 1936 MDT, at an indicated altitude of 9000 feet above sea level (asl) in the Highwood Range mountains, approximately 49 nautical miles southwest of Calgary. The aircraft wreckage was found on a mountain ridge at 8900 feet asl some 40 hours later. The flight was in controlled descent to Calgary when the impact occurred. There was a total break-up of the aircraft, and the pilot, the lone occupant, was fatally injured. There was a brief fireball at the time of impact.

The aircraft departed Pickle Lake to Summer Beaver, Ontario, on a charter flight with seven passengers and one crew member. The flight proceeded on a direct routing to destination at 3500 feet above sea level under night visual flight conditions. On approaching Summer Beaver, the aircraft joined the circuit on a downwind leg for a landing on Runway 17. When the aircraft did not land, personnel at Summer Beaver contacted the Pickle Lake flight dispatch to inquire about the flight. The aircraft was declared missing following an unsuccessful radio search by the Pickle Lake flight dispatch staff. Search and rescue personnel found the wreckage in a wooded area three nautical miles northwest of Summer Beaver. The aircraft had been nearly consumed by a post-crash fire. All eight people on board had been fatally injured.

The aircraft left Nanaimo, British Columbia, and landed at Penticton Airport at 1232 Pacific daylight time (PDT). The aircraft was fueled with 184 litres of fuel, filling all three belly tanks. At this time, the rear portion of the aircraft cabin was observed to be loaded with luggage and cargo. The pilot/aircraft owner was planning his flight to Calgary (Springbank), Alberta, and spent at least an hour flight planning and talking with the Kamloops Flight Information Centre by telephone. He had some difficulty determining a route to fly to Springbank, because of airspace restrictions due to forest fires, but decided on a routing of Penticton, Kelowna, Vernon, Revelstoke, and Springbank. The aircraft took off from Penticton Airport at 1420 PDT, with the pilot and two passengers on board and crashed approximately seven minutes later in a ravine of Penticton Creek, 11 nautical miles northeast of Penticton Airport. A post-impact fire broke out and consumed most of the fuselage area. The fire caused a small forest fire, seen by a firefighting aircraft crew. There were no radio calls from the occurrence aircraft, and the three occupants were fatally injured.

The single engine aircraft departed Pelican Narrows with two passengers and one pilot on board. While approaching Sully Lake, the engine lost power. The aircraft lost height and crashed in Sully Lake. Both passengers exited the cabin and were seriously injured while the pilot was killed. They spent a night on the shore and were rescued and evacuated to hospital a day later.

The four engine aircraft was completing a cargo flight to Ulu, carrying four crew members and a load consisting of 45 oil drums. On final approach, the crew realized his speed was too high so he reduced engine power and selected full flaps. The aircraft lost height so power was added. But the aircraft continued to descent and struck the ground short of runway threshold. Upon impact, the undercarriage were torn off. The aircraft slid on its belly, lost its both wings and came to rest few hundred feet further. All four crew members escaped with minor injuries and the aircraft was damaged beyond repair.

The aircraft took off from Runway 16 at the Cranbrook Airport, British Columbia. Two pilots were on board to conduct a fire-management mission on a small ground fire (designated N10156) two nautical miles southwest of the township of Cranbrook. Seven minutes earlier, the partner “bird dog” aircraft, a Turbo Commander, also departed Cranbrook to assess the appropriate aircraft flight path profiles and to establish the most suitable fire-retardant delivery program for the ground fire. Following the flight path demonstrations by the bird dog aircraft, Tanker 86 proceeded to carry out the retardant drop on the fire. After delivering the specified retardant load, Tanker 86 was seen to turn right initially then entered a turn to the left. At 1221 MST, the Electra struck the terrain on the side of a steep ridge at about 3900 feet above sea level. The aircraft exploded on impact and the two pilots were fatally injured. An intense post-crash fire consumed much of the wreckage and started a forest fire at the crash site and the surrounding area. The on-board emergency locator transmitter was damaged by the impact forces and did not activate.