What happened
On a scheduled sightseeing excursion in the Tadoussac region of Quebec, a floatplane operated by Air Saguenay (1980) inc. was involved in a fatal accident. The aircraft, a de Havilland DHC-2 Mk. 1 Beaver with registration C-FKRJ, departed from its base located on Lac Long at 11:04 EDT. The flight was conducted under visual flight rules and was intended to last approximately 20 minutes.
During the return portion of the flight, at 11:27 EDT, the aircraft was positioned roughly 2.5 nautical miles north-northwest of its destination, which was about 7 nautical miles north of Tadoussac. While performing a steep turn, the aircraft experienced an aerodynamic stall. This led to a vertical descent into a rocky outcrop. The impact caused significant structural damage to the airframe, and a subsequent fire destroyed the wreckage. There were 6 fatalities among the one pilot and five passengers on board. No signal from an emergency locator transmitter was detected during the event.
Findings
- The aircraft entered a stall during a steep turn.
- The impact with the terrain was followed by a post-crash fire that consumed the aircraft.