What happened
A single-engine turbine Otter on amphibious floats departed Triumph Bay, British Columbia, at 16:34 PDT, carrying one pilot and nine passengers. The flight was intended to be a visual flight rules (VFR) trip to Campbell River.
At 19:01 PDT, the pilot contacted the Campbell River Flight Service Station, stating the aircraft was seven nautical miles northwest of the airport. However, radar tracking from Comox placed the aircraft approximately 11 nautical miles northwest of the destination, near the Narrows. At this time, weather conditions were poor, with a ceiling of 300 feet and visibility limited to two miles due to fog and light rain. The pilot requested special VFR (SVFR) clearance, which was delayed by air traffic control until an instrument flight rules (IFR) aircraft had completed its landing.
Once cleared at 19:04 PDT, the aircraft was positioned near Tyee Spit. Radar data shows that after passing the spit, the aircraft turned south toward the airport. At approximately 19:07 PDT, the plane turned to a heading of 310 degrees, flying parallel to the runway centerline but moving away from the airport, with the localizer and non-directional beacon (NDB) to its left. After passing the NDB, the aircraft turned left toward the localizer at 19:09 PDT. The final radio transmission occurred at 19:10 PDT, after which radar contact was lost.
The aircraft struck the northwest side of a 1,047-foot mountain at an elevation of roughly 860 feet while in straight-and-level flight. The crash resulted in eight fatalities and two serious injuries.
Findings
The pilot experienced a progressive loss of situational awareness while attempting to navigate through low visibility or cloud cover, leaving him unaware that the terrain was rising ahead of his flight path. The investigation also noted that existing VFR regulations and industry safety practices failed to provide sufficient margins for safety. Additionally, the severity of the injuries was exacerbated by the detachment of passenger seats during the impact.