Sowind Air Bandeirante Crash at Little Grand Rapids (C-GVRO)

Flight Details and Accident Sequence On a scheduled 40-minute flight from St. Andrews, Manitoba, to Little Grand Rapids, Manitoba, a Sowind Air Ltd. Embraer EMB-110P1 Bandeirante carried a crew of two and 15 passengers. After arriving at Little Grand Rapids, the crew conducted an instrument approach but executed a missed approach because the required visual reference was not established. During a second instrument approach, ground-based witnesses and passengers reported the aircraft flying very low over the lake to the south of the airport and east of the normal approach path. Passengers described an increase in engine power followed by a rapid series of steep banking maneuvers after the aircraft crossed the shoreline to the southeast of the airport. The aircraft then descended into trees and crashed approximately 400 feet south and 1,600 feet east of the approach to runway 36 at Little Grand Rapids. The captain and three passengers were fatally injured, while the first officer and the remaining 12 passengers were seriously injured.