What happened
On the morning of 10 October 2016, a de Havilland DHC-2 Beaver equipped with amphibious floats departed from Vanderhoof Airport, British Columbia. The aircraft, registered as C-GEWG, was conducting a day visual flight rules flight to Laidman Lake with a pilot and four passengers on board.
Roughly 24 minutes after takeoff, the aircraft struck the ground approximately 11 nautical miles east of the intended destination. Upon impact, the aircraft's 406 MHz emergency locator transmitter (ELT) activated, allowing the Cospas-Sarsat satellite system to detect the distress signal. This triggered a search-and-rescue response led by the Joint Rescue Coordination Centre Victoria. During the aftermath, a passenger managed to contact emergency services via a mobile phone.
The crash resulted in one fatality and two serious injuries, while the remaining two passengers sustained minor injuries. The aircraft suffered substantial damage, though no fire occurred following the impact.
The investigation
The investigation focused on the circumstances leading to the terrain impact and the flight conditions at the time of the accident. Investigators examined the aircraft's configuration and the environmental factors present during the flight.
Findings
The investigation established that the accident was driven by a combination of factors, most notably that the aircraft was operated with an out-of-limit weight-and-balance configuration. Additionally, the presence of optical illusions contributed to the pilot's inability to maintain safe clearance from the terrain.