Incident Overview
At Rivière-au-Saumon Airport, an aircraft was in the takeoff roll when the right engine caught fire and exploded. The crew promptly abandoned the takeoff procedure and executed an emergency braking maneuver. All 35 occupants on board escaped without injury, but the aircraft sustained damage beyond repair.
Investigation Findings
The official investigation determined that the aircraft's water/methanol system had been serviced from a drum containing contaminated fluid. The drum was not labelled in a proper manner, leading to the contamination.
Conclusion
The probable cause of the incident was the use of contaminated fluid in the water/methanol system, introduced by an improperly labelled storage drum.