Icing and cargo weight contributed to fatal Ontario plane crash, TSB finds

WINNIPEG — The Transportation Safety Board says ice accumulation and cargo weight led to a fatal plane crash nearly two years ago in northwestern Ontario.

The pilot of the Wasaya Airways cargo flight was killed when the plane crashed less than 10 minutes after taking off from Pickle Lake, Ont., on a flight to Wapekeka, Ont., on Dec. 11, 2015.

The TSB says the Cessna 208B Caravan was destroyed when it collided with trees and terrain about 500 kilometres north of Thunder Bay, Ont.

No signal was received from the emergency locator transmitter, which was damaged during the crash, and there were no flight recording devices aboard.

TSB investigators say icing conditions that exceeded the capabilities of the aircraft,  exacerbated by the plane’s high takeoff weight, caused it to stall, lose control and crash.

Raiders AGM

Raiders impact on Prince Albert local economy continues to go up: AGM report

1h ago

Court proceedings

'The impact of this trauma will echo for generations': court case surrounding La Ronge woman's death reaches conclusion

Dec 11, 2024

Going Global

P.A.'s Zablocki named to Team Canada for U18 Women's World Championships

Dec 11, 2024

The TSB says its investigation also determined that Wasaya’s practices did not ensure that operational risks were assessed and managed appropriately.

“Flying into forecast icing conditions was a company norm although four of the five Cessna 208B aircraft were prohibited from operating in these conditions,” stated the report released on Thursday.

At the time of the crash, the operator had not implemented all of the mitigation strategies from a January 2015 risk assessment of operations in known or forecast icing conditions, the report said.

“Consequently, pilots lacked important information and tools for sound decision-making and for safe, efficient operations,” it said.

Since the crash, Wasaya conducted two safety management system investigations and has increased minimum weather requirements for flights operating under visual flight rules and improved operational flight plan procedures.

The Canadian Press