Wrong fuel possibly to blame for Thompson plane crash

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 15/09/2015 (3821 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

A Keystone Air Service plane that crashed just short of the Thompson runway Tuesday night may have been filled with the wrong fuel, the company president said this morning.

In a statement, Cliff Arlt said the airline said the Navajo Chieftain “may have been fueled with jet fuel in error, by the aircraft refuelers, rather than Avgas, as would have been required for the Navajo.”

Eight people were taken to hospital after the crash about three kilometres from the Thompson airport at approximately 6:45 p.m.

The Transportation Safety Board confirmed six passengers and two pilots were on board the twin-engine Piper 3A31 Navajo operated by Keystone, a charter service based in the RM of St. Andrews.

RCMP said today none of the injuries is considered life-threatening.

“All either unhurt or stable,” confirmed Manitoba RCMP spokesman Sgt. Bert Paquet.

Keystone said the six passengers got out of the plane on their own.

The Transportation Safety Board investigators were scheduled to head north to Thompson this morning.

Once there, investigators will scour the crash site in an effort to understand what caused the crash.

TSB officials will recover any recording devices, commonly called black boxes, from the aircraft and take them to Ottawa to be analyzed.

“We’ll gather any other information, such as what the weather was like, any communication was with air traffic control, pilot training records and of course interview any witnesses,” TSB spokesman Chris Krepski said.

Thompson mayor Dennis Fenske said he learned about the crash around 7:30 p.m. and has been in contact with emergency staff since then.

“I don’t know the severity of the injuries,” he said. “First and foremost, I hope that everyone’s OK and that the best comes out of a very bad situation.”

This is the second crash involving Keystone Air Service in the last few years.

In January 2012, a Piper Navajo — also operated by Keystone Air Service — crashed near a remote Northern Ontario community killing four people after it departed Winnipeg.

The plane burst into flames after the crash, killing the pilot and three passengers, but one of the passengers survived.