What happened
During a night visual flight rules cross-country flight on 17 June 2019, a Piper PA-23-250, registered as C-GDUL, was operating under Cargair Ltd. The flight originated from Montréal/St-Hubert Airport, Quebec, and included stops for approaches and missed approaches at Québec/Jean Lesage International Airport and Trois-Rivières Airport.
While at Trois-Rivières Airport, the crew decided to perform a touch-and-go maneuver. During the subsequent takeoff roll, the propellers on both engines made contact with the runway surface. Although the aircraft managed to become airborne and began a left turn, the pilot subsequently lost control. The aircraft struck the ground approximately 222 feet south of Runway 23 at 0009 Eastern Daylight Time on 18 June. A post-impact fire destroyed the aircraft. The two occupants, a pilot and a passenger/flight instructor, evacuated the wreckage; one person sustained serious injuries while the other suffered minor injuries.
The investigation
The investigation focused on the sequence of events leading to the loss of control during the takeoff attempt. Investigators examined the impact of the propellers striking the runway and the subsequent flight path of the aircraft. The investigation also noted that no signal was received from the aircraft's emergency locator transmitter following the crash.