What happened
During a scheduled calibration mission at Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu Airport in Quebec, an aircraft operated by the Department of Transport experienced a critical loss of propulsion. As the flight was performing its initial climb phase, the left engine ceased functioning. Shortly after this first failure, the right engine also lost power.
In response to the dual engine failure, the crew initiated an emergency procedure to land the plane in a nearby field. The aircraft performed a belly landing to avoid more populated areas. While the impact resulted in the aircraft being written off, there were no injuries reported among the three occupants on board.
Findings
Investigations into the incident determined that the loss of power in both engines was the result of fuel starvation. This condition occurred because the crew did not properly set the fuel selector to the correct tank during the flight operations.