What happened
On a local skydiving flight departing from Pitt Meadows Airport in British Columbia, a Beech 65-A90 King Air, registered as N17SA, encountered an engine malfunction. While the aircraft was ascending through 3,900 feet above sea level, the pilot notified air traffic services of the engine failure and initiated a return to the airport, targeting Runway 08R.
Unable to complete the return to the airfield, the pilot performed an emergency landing in a cranberry field located approximately 400 meters west of the airport. During the landing sequence, the aircraft hit an earthen berm, which caused the plane to bounce before making a second contact with the ground. During this second impact, the left wing caught in the soft peat, causing the aircraft to rotate 180 degrees.
Findings
While the aircraft sustained substantial damage, there was no post-crash fire, and all occupants were successfully evacuated. The incident resulted in four serious injuries among the parachutists on board. The emergency locator transmitter activated upon impact but was subsequently deactivated by emergency personnel on the scene. The primary factor in the crash was the engine failure during the initial climb phase.