What happened
On the afternoon of the accident, a De Havillance Canada DHC-6 Twin Otter operated by Nahanni Air Services departed from Fort Norman at 16:51. The flight reached the vicinity of Fort Franklin around 17:15. At this time, heavy fog obscured the area. A local resident used a portable VHF transceiver to alert the pilot that visibility was extremely low. During a subsequent radio exchange, the resident informed the pilot that visibility measured between 200 and 300 feet. While the pilot was clarifying whether this measurement applied to vertical or horizontal visibility, the aircraft collided with a 200-foot-high telecommunications tower while maintaining controlled level flight. The impact caused a portion of the right wing to separate, leading the aircraft to roll over before impacting the ground.
Findings
Investigations into the crash identified several contributing factors. The weather conditions at Fort Franklin were unsuitable for the flight, as the pilot attempted an approach under Visual Flight Rules (VFR) in visibility levels below the legal requirements. To maintain terrain clearance, the pilot was utilizing a radar altimeter during the descent; however, the aircraft descended to an altitude lower than the height of the tower.
Several environmental and psychological factors were noted. The lack of official weather reporting and communication infrastructure at Fort Franklin prevented the pilot from accessing reliable local meteorological data. Furthermore, investigators noted that a specific culture regarding risk assessment in remote Canadian regions may have influenced the decision-making process. The pilot's operational choices may have been impacted by significant personal stress, stemming from a recent period of professional instability and a high personal drive to complete the mission. It was also suggested that company management might have better mitigated these risks had they been more aware of how such external stressors could affect flight performance.