Piper PA-31-350 Navajo Forced Landing in Manitoba (C-GHMK)

Flight Details and Accident Sequence On a visual flight rules charter flight from St. Andrews, Manitoba, to Berens River, a Piper PA-31-350 Navajo, registration C-GHMK, carried one pilot, ten passengers (including one infant), and a dog stowed in the baggage compartment. At approximately 1530 CDT, while at an altitude of about 2,500 feet and roughly 30 nautical miles south of Berens River, the pilot heard a loud sound from the left engine. He observed deformation of the left engine cowling and smoke, and the aircraft yawed to the left. Part of the cowling separated in flight. The pilot was unable to move the left propeller lever beyond half of its normal travel or into the feather position. Despite setting maximum power on the right engine, the aircraft could not maintain altitude. The pilot notified company dispatch of an intended forced landing and brought the aircraft down in a mossy marsh area. All occupants, including the dog, evacuated; five passengers sustained minor injuries. A subsequent fire destroyed the aircraft except for the empennage aft of the horizontal stabilizers.