What happened
On 23 June 2010, an Beechcraft A100 King Air, registration C-FGIN, was performing an instrument flight from Québec to Sept-Îles, Quebec. Shortly after departing from Runway 30 at Québec/Jean Lesage International Airport, the crew experienced a critical issue with the right engine. During the initial climb, the aircraft's ground speed decreased and it began to lose altitude. The co-pilot notified air traffic control of the engine problem and requested emergency services, noting that the aircraft was unable to maintain a climb.
Approximately 29 seconds after the engine issue was reported, the aircraft struck the ground roughly 1.5 nautical miles from the end of the runway. The impact caused the aircraft to break up and ignite a post-crash fire. All 7 occupants—two crew members and five passengers—perished in the accident.
The investigation
The TSB examined the aircraft's performance, the operator's safety culture, and the crew's emergency management. Investigators analyzed radar data, which showed the aircraft's performance during take-off was lower than specified in the aircraft manual. This was attributed to the crew using a reduced power setting of 1500 ft-lb of torque instead of the maximum continuous power.
The investigation also looked into the mechanical state of the engines. While the left engine appeared to be operating normally, the right engine was found to be producing virtually no power at the time of impact. Furthermore, the investigation scrutinized the operator's maintenance and operational practices, noting that technical defects were not always consistently recorded in the aircraft journey logs.