What happened
On the afternoon of 10 November 1993, an Hawker Siddeley 748 (HS 748) operated by Air Manitoba Ltd. was performing a scheduled multi-stop flight originating from Winnipeg. The itinerary included stops at Sandy Lake, Ontario; St. Theresa Point, Manitoba; and Island Lake, Manitoba.
Earlier in the day, the crew attempted to land at Sandy Lake but were forced to divert to St. Theresa Point due to poor visibility and low cloud ceilings. Following a routine turnaround at St. Theresa Point, which involved loading 26 passengers and approximately 2,086 pounds of fuel, the aircraft returned to Sandy Lake at approximately 1745. Upon arrival, 22 passengers disembarked, leaving four passengers and three crew members on board. The engines were shut down during this stop, and no refueling took' place.
During the subsequent departure from Sandy Lake at 1805, the aircraft began a right-hand turn. Observers noted that the plane seemed to be flying at an unusually low altitude throughout the maneuver. After completing roughly 120 degrees of the turn, the aircraft descended into trees approximately one nautical mile northwest of the runway. The impact resulted in seven fatalities among the occupants.
Findings
Investigations concluded that the crew likely experienced a loss of situational awareness, which prevented them from noticing an increasing deviation from their planned flight path. This loss of awareness was further complicated by the absence of AC power to certain flight instruments, though the specific cause for this electrical failure remained undetermined.