What happened
On the evening of December 3, 1993, a Britten-Norman BN2A-20 Islander, registered C-GMOP, departed Tuktoyaktuk, Northwest Territories, for a scheduled night visual flight rules (VFR) flight to Inuvik. The aircraft, operated by Arctic Wings and Rotors, was carrying the pilot and six passengers.
Shortly after takeoff, while the aircraft was turning south, the right engine lost all power. The pilot contacted the Tuktoyaktuit Flight Service Station to report engine trouble and expressed an intention to return to the airport. During the radio transmissions, the pilot appeared stressed, and while he indicated he was heading back, he did not declare an emergency or report his altitude.
When the aircraft failed to arrive at the airport, a search operation was launched. The wreckage was discovered three hours later on an ice-covered lake roughly eight miles southeast of the airport. The aircraft had struck the ice in a steep, nose-down position, penetrating the two-foot-thick ice layer. There were 7 fatalities in the accident.
The investigation
The investigation focused on the mechanical failure of the engine and the pilot's subsequent actions. Investigators examined the aircraft's maintenance records, which were found to be incomplete, making it difficult to verify if all previous unserviceabilities had been properly addressed.
Technical analysis of the engines revealed that the right engine's failure was linked to a specific component. Furthermore, the investigation looked into the pilot's training history, noting that while he was a professional and experienced pilot, he had not received specific night training on the Islander type. The investigation also examined the regulatory practice of grouping different aircraft types, such as the Navajo and the Islander, for pilot proficiency checks, noting that significant differences in rudder trim application between these models could lead to errors during high-stress emergencies.