Canada

Parked at La Ronge, the single engine aircraft was stolen by a drunk 'pilot' who was able to run the engine but attempted to take off with controls locked. At a speed of about 60 knots, the aircraft struck obstacles and crashed on a hill. The aircraft was written off.

At about 1826 mountain standard time (MST), the aircraft, with the pilot and four passengers on board, departed the Calgary International Airport, Alberta, on a night instrument flight rules (IFR) flight to Hillsboro, Oregon, USA. At about 1946 the aircraft disappeared from the Vancouver Area Control Centre (ACC) radar screen in the vicinity of Castlegar, British Columbia. The Victoria Rescue Coordination Centre (RCC) was notified, and search aircraft were dispatched. Despite bi-national search cooperation and radar fixes of the aircraft's last known position (LKP), a seven-day search failed to locate the missing aircraft. An emergency locator transmitter (ELT) signal was not received. On 14 June 1996, the wreckage was located at latitude 49°14'48"N, longitude 117°03'20"W, at an elevation of approximately 6,700 feet above sea level (asl). The aircraft was destroyed by impact forces and a post-crash fire. The pilot and four passengers were fatally injured.

The Eagle Air Services Piper PA-31-325 Navajo, C-GOLM, departed runway 34 at Wollaston Lake, Saskatchewan, at 2325 central standard time (CST), on a medical evacuation (MEDEVAC) flight to La Ronge. The flight was arranged by the Wollaston nursing station to transport a patient to a hospital in La Ronge. The patient was accompanied on the flight by her mother and a nurse from the nursing station. The aircraft was observed to climb at an unusually shallow angle after take-off, and, when efforts by company personnel to reach the pilot by radio were unsuccessful, a ground search was commenced. The aircraft was found about five minutes after the accident, located on the ice- and snow-covered surface of Wollaston Lake, about 0.75 nautical miles (nm) from the departure end of the runway, and about 1.3 nm from the point of commencement of the take-off roll. The pilot and the patient suffered serious injuries. The other two occupants sustained minor injuries. The accident occurred during the hours of darkness at latitude 58°6.98'N, longitude 103°10.79'W, at an elevation of 1,300 feet above sea level (asl). The temperature was about -25°/C.

The Navair Charter Piper PA-31, flight FCV705, a mail courier with a crew of two, was on a night, instrument flight rules (IFR) flight plan from Williams Lake, British Columbia, to Kamloops. While the crew was conducting an instrument procedure to the Kamloops airport, they flew into an area that was clear of cloud. The captain cancelled his IFR flight plan and descended for a visual flight rules (VFR) approach to the airport. At 1902 PST, the aircraft collided with trees at an elevation of 2,400 feet above sea level (asl), seven nautical miles (nm) east-southeast of the Kamloops airport. The captain was fatally injured on impact, and the first officer was seriously injured; the aircraft was destroyed during the crash and post-crash fire.

The Cessna 402, with five persons on board, took off from Auburn, Indiana, USA, around 0630 local time (1130 Coordinated Universal Time (UTC)) for Schefferville, Quebec, with stops en route. Their final leg was from Montreal International (Dorval) to Schefferville, with Wabush, Newfoundland, as the alternate, and they took off at 1523 EDT (1923 UTC). The flights were conducted in accordance with instrument flight rules (IFR). While in cruising flight and west of Wabush, the pilot requested the weather conditions for Schefferville and Wabush. Because of poor conditions in Schefferville, the pilot decided to fly to his alternate, Wabush. During the ILS approach for runway 01, the aircraft was too high to complete the approach, and the pilot requested and received clearance to execute another one. During the missed approach, the pilot proceeded an unknown distance outbound and turned back toward the airport. During the inbound leg, the aircraft contacted trees on the side of a mountain, at an indicated altitude of 2,460 feet asl, and decelerated over a distance of about 900 feet. The aircraft came to rest 23 nautical miles north of the airport, on the extended centre line of runway 01, on a heading of 186 degrees magnetic. The aircraft crashed probably at just after 1907 ADT (2207 UTC) during the hours of darkness. All five occupants were injured.

The single engine aircraft was on a delivery flight from Campbell River to the seaplane base of Seal Cove in Prince Rupert. En route, in unclear circumstances, the aircraft crashed near Captain Cove, about 50 km southeast of Prince Rupert. Both passengers Mark Jonathan Cholomondeley and Ferlie Bating were killed while the pilot Spike Nasmyth survived.

The single-engine turbine Otter on amphibious floats departed Triumph Bay, British Columbia, at 1634 Pacific daylight saving time (PDT) with one pilot and nine passengers on board for a visual flight rules (VFR) flight to Campbell River. At 19:01:59 the pilot called Campbell River Flight Service Station (FSS) and reported that he was seven nautical miles (nm) northwest of the airport, inbound for Campbell River. Radar data from Comox indicate that, when this call was made, the aircraft was actually 11 nm northwest of Campbell River, just south of the Narrows (see map, Appendix A). At 19:02:40, the pilot was given the 1900 PDT Campbell River weather observation, which was as follows: ceiling 300 feet overcast and visibility two miles in light rain and fog. The pilot requested a special VFR (SVFR) clearance to enter the Campbell River control zone. Clearance for SVFR was delayed by Comox air traffic control (ATC) until an instrument flight rules (IFR) aircraft on approach to Campbell River had landed. At 19:03:54, the IFR aircraft reported breaking clouds at 900 feet above sea level (asl), which would be approximately 550 feet above ground level, on the ILS approach to runway 11 at Campbell River (airport elevation is 346 feet). This information was acknowledged by the turbine Otter pilot. The IFR aircraft landed at 1904, and the turbine Otter was issued an SVFR clearance at 19:04:45. Radar data indicate that, at that time, the aircraft was about one mile northwest of Tyee Spit, a frequently used, alternate landing site (water) for company aircraft when weather conditions preclude landing at Campbell River airport. Radar data indicate that, at 1906, after passing by Tyee Spit, the aircraft turned southbound and flew directly toward the airport. At about 2 1/2 miles from the airport, at 19:07:40, the aircraft turned right to a heading of approximately 310/ magnetic and flew in that general direction for about two minutes. The aircraft was on a track that was approximately parallel to the extended runway centre line, tracking outbound from the airport with the localizer and the Campbell River (YBL) non-directional beacon (NDB) to the left. The aircraft passed abeam the YBL NDB, which serves as the final approach fix (FAF) for the ILS approach to runway 11, and continued outbound. At 19:09:40, at about three miles outside the beacon, the aircraft turned left to a southerly heading toward the localizer and the YBL NDB. At 19:10:08, the pilot radioed that he was seven miles northwest; this was the last transmission received from the aircraft. At 19:10:25, radar contact was lost. The aircraft crashed into the northwest side of a 1,047-foot mountain at about the 860-foot level, in straight-and-level flight on a heading of 183/ magnetic. The pilot and seven of the passengers received fatal injuries. The two remaining passengers received serious injuries. The accident occurred at 1910 PDT during the hours of official daylight, at latitude 50/01'N, longitude 125/22'W. Official sunset in Campbell River was at 1908, and night was at 1940 PDT.

The single engine aircraft departed Stewart Lake, some 60 miles west of Dryden, on a charter flight to Salvesen Lake, carrying five anglers to a fishing camp. Upon landing on Salvesen Lake, the aircraft flipped over and became submerged. All six occupants were killed. It was reported that the landing was completed with a relative strong tailwind.

The Nimrod display aircraft and crew had deployed to Canada on 23 August 1995 for displays at Canadian Forces Base Shearwater and the Canadian International Air Show (CIAS) at Toronto. In excellent weather, with a light on-shore wind, the aircraft took off on time for its display. Upon completion of the safety checks, it ran in for the standard Nimrod display sequence which features two orbits and two dumb-bell turns. The latter manoeuvres each involved a turn away from the display line, a climb to not above 1,000 feet, followed by a turn in the opposite direction and descent, to fly back parallel with the display line. Having completed the two orbits, the first dumb-bell turn was completed uneventfully. After a slow flypast with undercarriage down, the aircraft entered its final manoeuvre, the second dumb-bell turn. It was seen to turn away approximately 75° to starboard under full power before the flaps were retracted to 20° and the undercarriage raised. The nose was then pitched up into a climbing attitude of 24°. As the aircraft passed 950 feet, engine power was reduced to almost flight idle, following which the speed reduced rapidly to 122 knots, below the 150 knots recommended and taught for that stage of the display. The aircraft was rolled to 70° of port bank, shortly afterwards reducing to 45°, and the nose lowered to 5° below the horizon. During this turn the airspeed increased slightly and the G-loading increased to 1 .6 G. However, the combination of the low airspeed and the G-loading led the aircraft to stall, whereupon the port wing dropped to 85° of bank and the nose dropped to 18° below the horizon. Full starboard aileron and full engine power were applied in an attempt to recover the aircraft but, by this stage, there was insufficient height to recover and the aircraft hit the water. All seven crew members were killed.

The DC-3 aircraft, with the captain, first officer, and an apprentice aircraft maintenance engineer on board, was to be ferried from Vancouver, British Columbia, to Whitehorse, Yukon. Just after take-off from runway 08, as the first officer was setting the engine power, the right propeller began to over-speed. The captain told the first officer to shut down and feather the right engine. The first officer did as instructed, and advised the Vancouver tower controller of the engine problem and that they would return to the airport to land on runway 08. The captain turned the aircraft to the right, onto downwind for runway 08; however, because the aircraft's altitude and airspeed were decreasing, the first officer advised the tower controller that they would land on runway 30. The aircraft continued to lose height, narrowly avoiding buildings in its path, and crashed to the ground, one mile short of runway 30. The three occupants were seriously injured during the impact and the post-crash fire; the captain died of his injuries eight days after the accident.