What happened
The twin-engine aircraft departed Summerside to conduct a routine navigation training flight. While cruising over the Gulf of St Lawrence, the crew switched fuel tanks, after which the starboard engine ceased functioning. Unable to maintain safe altitude with only one engine operating, the pilot elected to ditch the aircraft in the water near the Magdalen Islands.
All four crew members evacuated into a life raft and were subsequently located by a search aircraft. A rescue boat recovered the survivors from the water. The aircraft sank within twenty minutes of the ditching and was declared lost.
Findings
Investigations determined that the precise cause of the incident could not be definitively established. However, the timing of the engine failure immediately following a fuel tank change led investigators to consider air-lock in the fuel line as a likely contributing factor.