Twin Otter Crash at Yellowknife Float-Plane Base (C-GARW)

Incident Overview and Location On 1318 Mountain Daylight Time, a float-equipped de Havilland DHC-6-300 Twin Otter with registration C-GARW and serial number 367 was landing at the float-plane base (CEN9) in Yellowknife, Northwest Territories. The base is situated along the western shore of Great Slave Lake, beside the area known as Old Town. The aircraft carried two crew members and seven passengers, with the first officer serving as the pilot flying. ## Sequence of Events During touchdown, the aircraft bounced, porpoised, and landed hard on the right float. The flight crew initiated a go-around, but the aircraft lifted off at low speed in a nose-high, right-wing-low attitude. It continued in a right turn toward the shore, where the right wing contacted power lines and cables before the float bottoms impacted the side of an office building. The aircraft then dropped to the ground on its nose and cart-wheeled into an adjacent parking lot. ## Casualties and Damage Both crew members were fatally injured. Four passengers were seriously injured, and three passengers sustained minor injuries. The aircraft was substantially damaged. The 406-megahertz emergency locator transmitter activated, and there was no fire.