What happened
On the morning of the accident, a Britten-for-Norman Islander BN.2A-27, registration C-FJJR, was tasked with a medical evacuation flight. The mission required transporting a patient from Port Hope Simpson to St. Anthony, Newfoundland and Labrador. The flight originated from the operator's base in Forteau, departing at approximately 0620 Newfoundland and Labrador daylight time.
At roughly 0650, the pilot contacted the Port Hope Simpson Airport airfield attendant to report being four nautical miles from the field, intending to land. At that time, the local weather was characterized by fog. Shortly after this transmission, an application of engine power was heard, followed by the sound of an impact. Once the fog dissipated approximately 30 minutes later, smoke was observed in the hills west of the airport. A ground search team located the wreckage at approximately 1100. The sole occupant of the aircraft was fatally injured, and the aircraft was destroyed by the impact and a subsequent intense fire.
The investigation
Investigators examined several potential scenarios to determine why the aircraft departed controlled flight. The aircraft struck the ground in a near-vertical attitude, and while the wreckage was extensively damaged, there was no evidence of engine or flight control failure. The investigation also ruled out pilot incapacitation and turbulence as contributing factors.
Because the company was not authorized for single-pilot IFR operations due to the lack of an autopilot, investigators considered whether the pilot attempted a GPS approach, which would have significantly increased workload. Other possibilities included the pilot inadvertently entering clouds or encountering rising terrain while attempting to fly around the weather, leading to an aerodynamic stall. The possibility of icing was ruled out because the freezing level was above the minimum safe altitude for the approach.
Findings
- The aircraft departed controlled flight, likely due to an aerodynamic stall, and struck the terrain for reasons that could not be definitively determined.
- The absence of onboard recording devices prevented investigators from establishing the exact cause of the loss of control.
- The intensity of the post-crash fire likely prevented the operation of the emergency locator transmitter.