Plane looked set to land before crash

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This article was published 14/01/2012 (5271 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

A Keystone Air Service plane appeared to be getting set to land before it crashed into frozen North Spirit Lake last Tuesday, says a preliminary report.

Landing gear was down, and flaps were also partially extended to likely slow the plane down, according to details released by the Transport Safety Board of Canada.

“It is consistent with an airplane preparing to land,” said Peter Hildebrand, TSB regional manager, adding it’s too soon to reach a conclusion. The plane could also have been doing a low pass.

“We do know some runway clearing was going on (because of snowy conditions),” Hildebrand said. “If there was machinery on the runway, was the pilot trying to land, or go over head and planning to come around again?”

The Piper Navajo PA 31-350 was 1.1 nautical miles from the runway when it slammed into the lake ice in Northern Ontario, killing four of five people on board. It was a charter flight on its way to North Spirit Lake First Nation, 400 kilometres north of Kenora.

The TSB’s initial report found the wreckage extended for 106 metres, or about the length of a football field. Aircraft parts such as glass, panels, cargo and wing parts were found early on the wreckage trail.

Investigators also found heavy fire damage in the fuselage and in the area of the right wing.

“It’s not really unusual. Sometimes you get a fire, sometime you don’t,” when an aircraft crashes and its fuel tank is breached, Hildebrand said.

The preliminary report by the safety board also said the path of wreckage indicated an orientation of 140 degrees — on course to land at the First Nation’s runway.

“These are simply facts and we’re careful at this stage not to analyze them,” said Hildebrand.

More fact-finding is to follow, including interviews with witnesses and the lone survivor. The TSB will also examine engines and propellers, and instruments and radios.

bill.redekop@freepress.mb.ca