Canada

The aircraft was on its way from Phoenix to Gustavus, AK, to be delivered to its new operator Glacier Bay Airways. On the leg from Port Hardy to Prince Rupert, while cruising at an altitude of 4,000 feet, the engine exploded and oil spread on the windscreen. The crew ditched the aircraft in the Grenville Channel and was quickly rescued. The aircraft sank and was not recovered.

While taking off from a gravel airstrip at Colville Lake, the twin engine aircraft went out of control, veered off runway and collided with an airport building. All five occupants were rescued and the aircraft was damaged beyond repair.

On final approach to Bronson Creek Airport, the right engine caught fire. The crew reduced his altitude and completed an emergency landing in an open field. After touchdown, the aircraft slid for few dozen meters and eventually came to rest, bursting into flames. Both pilots evacuated safely.

The twin engine aircraft was completing a charter flight from Quebec City to Bonaventure, carrying five passengers and one pilot. Just before noon, while cruising in poor visibility due to low clouds, the aircraft struck trees, stalled and crashed in a wooded area located on Mt Saint-Joseph, about 4 km north of Carleton. The pilot was killed instantly and all five passengers were injured, three of them seriously. Both passengers who were slightly injured decided to walk away to find help and walked for about 7 hours before reaching Carleton. Rescue teams arrived on scene the next morning to evacuate the last three passengers.

Air Ontario Flight 1363, a Fokker F-28 jet, crashed during takeoff from Dryden Municipal Airport, Ontario, Canada. Of the 69 persons on board, 24 suffered fatal injuries. The aircraft in question, registration C-FONF, had suffered from a malfunctioning auxiliary power unit (APU) for the five days preceding the accident. Throughout the week preceding March 10, Air Ontario maintenance attempted, with limited success, to cure the APU problems. On March 9 it was decided to defer the repair of the APU until the aircraft returned to Toronto on the night of March 10. This meant that the aircraft was dispatched with the APU inoperable. On the morning of March 10, C-FONF departed Winnipeg on a round trip flight to Dryden, Thunder Bay and back as flight 1362/3. Since no external power unit was available at Dryden, the engines couldn't be restarted in case of engine shutdown on the ground. The flight to Thunder Bay was uneventful apart from a slight delay due to poor weather at Thunder Bay. As the aircraft was prepared for the return flight, it appeared that the aircraft was overweight as a result of ten additional passengers having transferred to the flight due to an earlier cancellation. The Air Ontario duty manager decided to off-load fuel and to arrange refuelling at Dryden. This caused an additional delay of 35 minutes. The Fokker F-28 departed Thunder Bay at 11:55 hours EST, about one hour behind schedule. The aircraft landed at Dryden at 11:39 hours CST. It began to snow lightly when the aircraft landed. Between 11:40 and 12:01, Air Ontario 1363 was refuelled with the right engine operating and with the passengers remaining on board the aircraft. This so called 'hot refuelling' procedure was followed because the APU was unserviceable. Eight passengers deplaned in Dryden and seven passengers boarded the aircraft. Meanwhile, snow was accumulating on the wings, forming a layer of 1/8-1/4 inch. No de-icing was done because de-icing with either engine running was prohibited by both Fokker and Air Ontario. The aircraft then taxied to runway 29 for departure, but was instructed to hold as there was a Cessna 150 on approach. The snow was continuing to fall heavily, becoming increasingly thick on the wings. At 12:09 the aircraft started it's takeoff roll on the slush-covered runway 29. There was an accumulation of at least one-half inch of wet, layered snow on the wings of the F-28 as it began its takeoff roll. After a longer than normal takeoff roll, the aircraft was rotated near taxiway Alpha, at approximately the 3500 foot mark. The aircraft lifted off slightly, began to shudder, and then settled back down onto the runway. The takeoff roll then continued and the aircraft was rotated a second time, finally lifting off at approximately the 5700 mark of the 6000 foot runway. It flew over the end of the runway approximately 15 feet above the ground. It thereafter failed to gain altitude and mushed through the air in a nose-high attitude, before commencing to strike trees. The aircraft crashed and came to rest in a wooded area, 3156 feet past the runway end and caught fire.

A DC-3C, registration C-FBZN, owned by Transfair was destroyed in an accident shortly after take off from the La Grande-LG-4 airstrip, QC. Both crew members were fatally injured. The system used for de-icing the wings on the ground was available at the airport, but it was not used. A broom was used to remove snow and ice from the wings. The airplane departed with some ice still present on the wings. The airplane took off at 06:35 for a visual flight rules (VFR) charter flight to Lac Bienville, QC. The aircraft, with two crew members, was transporting drums of kerosene (Jet B) for a Hydro-Quebec contractor. An eye witness said that the takeoff from runway 10 was normal and that the pilot initiated a left turn at low altitude immediately after the landing gear was retracted. But shortly after takeoff the crankshaft of the left engine failed between the two banks of cylinders. The rear section of the engine continued to operate because it was still connected to its key accessories, including the magnetos; however, its power could not be transmitted to the propeller. The tachometer, which was also mounted on the rear section of the engine, was still providing an engine rpm reading. The failure of the crankshaft caused the front part of the engine to misfire, and the pistons were no longer synchronized with the ignition timing of the magnetos. This seriously disrupted engine operation and caused a rapid decay of rpm in the front section of the engine, which drives the propeller governor. The propeller governor regulates propeller rpm by adjusting the blade pitch angle, thus maintaining the selected rpm despite variations in engine power. When the propeller governor detected a decrease in engine power, it adjusted the blades to a lower pitch angle to reduce the torque required to maintain rpm. The additional drag generated by the left propeller operating at a low pitch angle was further aggravated by the requirement for more power to windmill the propeller, as it was affected by the resistance created by the erratic functioning of the cylinder bank with which it was engaged. The crew may not have recognized the engine failure and was not able to feather the left propeller in time. A left hand turn was initiated in an attempt to return for a landing. While the pilot was trying to maintain the aircraft in flight, its critical angle of attack was probably exceeded, and the aircraft stalled in the turn.

While approaching Waskaganish Airport, the crew encountered bad weather conditions and due to poor visibility, the captain initiated a go-around. During the next minutes, three other attempts to land were abandoned. During the fifth attempt to land, the aircraft descended too low and crashed short of runway 06 threshold. All three crew members were injured and the aircraft was destroyed.

The twin engine aircraft was dispatched from Timmins to Chapleau on an ambulance flight, carrying two medical staffs and two pilots. A patient should be boarded in Chapleau and transferred to Sault Sainte Marie. Following an uneventful flight at FL120, the crew started a night descent to Chapleau. On a final NDB approach, the aircraft struck the ground and crashed 2,5 km southwest of the airport. The aircraft was destroyed and all four occupants were killed.

The twin engine aircraft crashed in unknown circumstances near Lake Larouche. The pilot, sole on board, was killed.

A Douglas DC-3C was destroyed when it crashed in Pikangikum Lake, ON, Canada. Both the pilot and the co-pilot were fatally injured in the accident. The airplane departed Red Lake Airport, ON (YRL) as Air Ontario flight 937 on a flight to Pikangikum Airport, ON (YPM). The main cargo load being carried consisted of a rubberized bladder tank containing 2,068 litres of fuel oil. Weather at the Pikangikum Airport was poor with drizzle, low clouds, and fog, with a visibility of one and one-half to two miles. The airplane was heard overflying the airport and turning over the Pikangikum Lake in preparation for a final approach and landing on runway 27. While over the water the airplane stalled and struck the ice-covered lake 180 feet south of a tree-covered island. It descended through the ice and struck the lake bottom at a depth of 8 to 12 feet. The ice thickness at the area of impact varied from one inch to three inches. Both pilots were killed.