Federal investigators studying engine, propeller from float plane in fatal northern Manitoba crash
Advertisement
Read this article for free:
or
Already have an account? Log in here »
To continue reading, please subscribe:
Monthly Digital Subscription
$1 per week for 24 weeks*
- Enjoy unlimited reading on winnipegfreepress.com
- Read the E-Edition, our digital replica newspaper
- Access News Break, our award-winning app
- Play interactive puzzles
*Billed as $4.00 plus GST every four weeks. After 24 weeks, price increases to the regular rate of $19.00 plus GST every four weeks. Offer available to new and qualified returning subscribers only. Cancel any time.
Monthly Digital Subscription
$4.75/week*
- Enjoy unlimited reading on winnipegfreepress.com
- Read the E-Edition, our digital replica newspaper
- Access News Break, our award-winning app
- Play interactive puzzles
*Billed as $19 plus GST every four weeks. Cancel any time.
To continue reading, please subscribe:
Add Winnipeg Free Press access to your Brandon Sun subscription for only
$1 for the first 4 weeks*
*$1 will be added to your next bill. After your 4 weeks access is complete your rate will increase by $0.00 a X percent off the regular rate.
Read unlimited articles for free today:
or
Already have an account? Log in here »
The engine and propeller of a float plane that crashed in northern Manitoba earlier this month, leaving four passengers dead and a pilot seriously injured, are undergoing further examination by investigators.
Liam MacDonald, a spokesman for the Transportation Safety Board of Canada, said an insurance company removed wreckage from the site near Makepeace Lake last week.
“It will be stored in a secure area and accessible to the TSB should we require re-examination of any component,” MacDonald wrote in an email. “The engine and propeller have been sent to the Winnipeg TSB facility for further examination.”
The cause of the crash is under investigation.
The purpose of the TSB, an independent agency, is to improve safety. The board does not assign fault, or determine civil or criminal liability.
RCMP said two 50-year-old women and two men, aged 53 and 49, died when the bush plane, a de Havilland DHC-2 (Beaver), crashed about 40 kilometres south of St. Theresa Point Anisininew Nation on Sept. 13.
St. Theresa Point residents identified the victims as couples Bradley and Rena Monias, and Nestor and Ella Monias. The two men were cousins.
The group was flying to Makepeace Lake — about 425 kilometres northeast of Winnipeg, near the Manitoba-Ontario boundary — to camp and prepare for hunting season.
Police said the 20-year-old male pilot survived with serious but non-life-threatening injuries.
Investigators visited the crash scene and St. Theresa Point a few days after the plane went down.
In addition to examining wreckage, the team surveyed, photographed and documented the site, met with St. Theresa Point’s chief and council, and gathered information from the flight’s operator, such as manuals and records, MacDonald said.
The single-engine, propeller-driven plane was owned and operated by Alair MHA Enterprises Ltd., a company official previously confirmed to the Free Press. The charter taxi service operates out of St. Theresa Point’s airport.
The TSB would not say if the pilot or company owner were interviewed, citing policy that dictates the protection and use of witness statements.
fpcity@freepress.mb.ca
