Manitoba plane crash cause not clear, say investigators
The federal Transportation Safety Board says it currently does not know why a small plane crashed in northern Manitoba last week, killing the pilot and injuring seven passengers.
The Cessna 208B aircraft crashed shortly after takeoff in a densely wooded area near Snow Lake, Man., on Nov. 18. It was bound for Winnipeg, about 700 kilometres south.
The crash killed pilot Mark Gogal, 40. The plane was operated by Gogal Air Service, which is owned by his father.
The seven passengers, employees for Dumas Mine Contracting, were injured. They were all last reported to be in stable condition in hospital.
Investigators with the Transportation Safety Board showed reporters parts of the wreckage on Tuesday.
Peter Hildebrand, the TSB's manager of regional operations, said the crash is the latest in a disturbing trend when it comes to small air carriers.
"There have been far too many air accidents — air taxi accidents in particular — often with fatalities. Snow Lake is another unfortunate example," Hildebrand told reporters.
"Over the last 10 years, 91 per cent of commercial aircraft accidents in Canada involved smaller operators."
The TSB has counted 134 deaths from air taxi crashes over the past decade — some 77 per cent of all air traffic fatalities.
The Cessna 208B that crashed in Snow Lake is considered to be an air taxi and did not have a flight data recorder installed, as it was not required under current federal regulations, Hildebrand said.
Air taxis, which hold fewer than nine passengers, are subject to regulations that are less strict than planes that carry more than nine passengers, but Hildebrand said air taxis should also be required to have safety management systems in place.
The safety board is reiterating a call for the federal government to require flight data recorders and cockpit voice recorders on small planes, as it already does on larger ones.
It has previously called on Transport Canada to toughen safety standards for smaller aircraft, but has not had a response, Hildebrand said.
As to why air taxis account for a high percentage of accidents, Hildebrand said there is no one factor.
"They're just having a lot more accidents from every type of risk, from collisions with other aircraft, flight into adverse weather, collisions with terrain, loss of control … all the phases of flight are represented in these accidents," he said.
