What happened
On the night of December 9, 1977, an HS-125 corporate jet departed from Montreal, bound for Churchill Falls. The flight was scheduled to last approximately one hour and 45 minutes. During the transit, the aircraft maintained regular communication with Air Traffic Services. Upon approaching the destination, the crew received approach clearance from Moncton ATC and updated weather information at 2228Z.
Following the descent to the minimum initial altitude required for the instrument approach, the flight reported being outbound to Churchill Falls at roughly 2252Z. The last communication from the crew indicated they were two miles from the runway on final approach, noting that they could visually identify the VASIS and strobe lights. After the aircraft failed to arrive as expected, Moncton Centre initiated an alert around 2300Z.
Initial search efforts involving two helicopters were hampered by worsening weather conditions, including blizzard-like environments, forcing the mission to be suspended. The search was officially resumed on December 11, at which point the wreckage of the HS-125 was discovered approximately two miles short of runway 14. There were no survivors found at the site.
Findings
Investigations into the accident highlighted several critical failures in cockpit management. It was determined that inadequate cockpit discipline and distractions significantly degraded the performance of the crew during the final phase of the approach. Specifically, the pilots failed to monitor flight instruments effectively, which resulted in a loss of essential altitude awareness.
Furthermore, the captain relied on visual cues from runway lighting that were compromised by environmental conditions, leading to dangerous visual illusions. These factors combined to allow the aircraft to descend below its safe profile and ultimately strike the terrain. The investigation also noted that the search efforts might have been more efficient had a functional ELT been detected earlier.