Incident
On the day of the accident, a Beech 65-A90 King Air (United States registration N17SA, serial number LJ-164) operated by Bill Dause departed from Pitt Meadows Airport, British Columbia, with a pilot and seven parachutists for a local skydiving flight. At 1521 Pacific daylight time, while climbing through 3900 feet above sea level, the pilot reported an engine failure and turned back toward the airport for a landing on Runway 08R. The aircraft was unable to reach the airport and performed a forced landing in a cranberry field, approximately 400 meters west of the airport.
Upon touchdown, the aircraft struck an earthen berm, bounced, and struck the terrain again. During the second impact, the left wing dug into soft peat, causing the aircraft to spin 180 degrees. Four of the parachutists sustained serious injuries. The aircraft was substantially damaged, but there was no fire, and all occupants evacuated. The emergency locator transmitter activated upon impact and was turned off by first responders.
Investigation
The official investigation examined the aircraft's maintenance history and the pilot's actions. The findings identified inadequate maintenance practices, including an engine time before overhaul (TBO) over-run and missed inspection items, which were not detected by regulatory oversight. Specifically, the TBO over-run and missed inspections allowed excessive spline wear in the left engine-driven fuel pump to go undetected. The left engine lost power due to mechanical failure of the engine fuel pump drive splines.
Additionally, the horizontal arrangement of engine instruments and a lack of recent emergency training hindered quick identification of the engine malfunction. This led the pilot to shut down the wrong engine, resulting in a dual-engine power loss and a forced landing. The investigation also noted that failure to use restraint devices contributed to the severity of injuries sustained by some passengers.
Probable Cause
The official probable cause findings include: inadequate maintenance demonstrated by the aircraft's overall condition, TBO over-run, and missed inspections; undetected excessive spline wear in the left engine-driven fuel pump due to TBO over-run and missed inspections; left engine power loss from mechanical failure of the fuel pump drive splines; difficulty in identifying the malfunctioning engine due to horizontal instrument arrangement and lack of recent emergency training, leading the pilot to shut down the wrong engine and causing a dual-engine power loss; and not using restraint devices contributing to passenger injury severity. A risk finding noted that Transport Canada's failure to verify airworthiness and operational requirements for holders of Canadian Foreign Air Operator Certificates-Free Trade Agreement poses a risk to passengers.