Aging plane part blamed for crash

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This article was published 23/05/2009 (6013 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

WINNIPEG — An aging airplane engine part is being blamed for the forced landing of a float plane into a marsh last year.

The Transportation Safety Board of Canada says the failure of a cylinder in the engine of a Noorduyn Norseman Mark V, operated by Gogal Air Services Ltd., caused the plane to lose power 10 minutes into a 20-minute flight from Burntwood Lake Lodge to Snow Lake on July 6, 2008.

The seven-page report issued by the TSB said the pilot tried to reach a lake about five kilometres away.

But when he realized he couldn’t, he put the plane down in the marsh.

The plane was damaged when it clipped some trees before stopping.

The TSB’s Peter Hildebrand said there were no injuries to the pilot or the seven passengers on board.

Hildebrand said Friday the final impact was soft enough that the plane’s emergency locator beacon didn’t go off, so the pilot radioed another company aircraft for help.

Hildebrand said the cylinder failed because of metal fatigue, caused either by microscopic porous metal left during the manufacturing process, or by stress, or by a combination of both.

"The parts are old and every now and then problems arise," he said.

"Was the porosity the issue or wear and tear? Some things can’t be established.

"How do you prevent this? It’s not an easy question. Transport Canada has looked at it and issued advisories on the best way to inspect them.

"But, in the end, I don’t know if anything is 100 per cent fool proof."

The TSB investigation found that the part failed about halfway between inspections and more than 200 hours before the engine’s next scheduled overhaul.

The TSB report said the type of engine in the plane began to be manufactured in 1925 and hasn’t been built since 1960. The engine is in both the Norseman and the DHC-3 Otter aircraft.

No new cylinders have been manufactured since 1960, but there is still a large inventory of unused parts available.

According to Transport Canada records, the plane flown by Gogal was built in 1948, and has been registered by the company since 1995.

There are 12 Norseman Mark V currently registered in Canada while there are 126 DHC-3 Otters.

Bill Zuk, of the Manitoba Aviation Council, said the Norseman planes are "a sturdy plane. They are well built.

"They were the first Canadian plane designed for the north… it’s the workhorse of Canada’s north."

Zuk said the planes are so respected that given a choice, many pilots will choose to take the controls of a Norseman instead of a more modern plane.

Bob Polinuk, owner of Selkirk Air, a company that works on these types of planes, said the first one was built in 1934.

kevin.rollason@freepress.mb.ca