What happened
On a day involving multiple magnetometric survey missions, a Piper PA-31, registered as C-FQQB, departed from Schefferville Airport in Quebec. The aircraft, operated by Exact Air Inc., was flying under visual flight rules toward a survey site situated approximately 90 nautical miles northwest of the airfield. The crew consisted of two pilots.
After finishing the survey operations at an altitude of 300 feet, the aircraft initiated its return leg toward the airport. During this phase, the aircraft maintained a very low altitude, ranging from 40 to 100 feet above the terrain. At 1756 Eastern Daylight Time, while traversing an area containing railway tracks, the aircraft made contact with power transmission line cables. This impact caused the aircraft to crash into a mine tailings deposit located roughly 3.5 nautical miles northwest of Schefferville Airport. The impact resulted in two fatalities.
Findings
Following the impact, no fire was reported at the crash site. There was also no signal detected from the aircraft's emergency locator transmitter. The primary factor in the accident was the collision with power transmission line cables while flying at low altitude.