What happened
On the afternoon of the accident, a flight departed from Kuujjuarapik, Quebec, bound for Umiujaq, Quebec. The mission involved transporting employees from Hydro-Québec to inspect electrical infrastructure located in various villages along the Hudson Bay coast. Shortly after takeoff, the crew contacted the Kuujjuarapik Flight Service Station to provide a flight notification and obtain current weather updates for their destination.
The flight proceeded at an altitude of 5,000 feet, following a track of 045 degrees from the local non-directional beacon. As the aircraft approached Umiujaq, the crew began a descent approximately thirty nautical miles from the destination. While navigating via GPS waypoints and visual references, the aircraft descended to roughly 200 feet above ground level on a magnetic heading of 25 degrees. At this stage, the crew reported visibility exceeding one and a half miles and was able to identify ground landmarks.
As the aircraft transitioned onto the final approach for runway 21, the pilot-in-command executed a turn involving a bank angle of at least 35 degrees. During this maneuver, the aircraft entered a stall. Although the pilot attempted to recover the aircraft by applying full power, the plane failed to clear the rising terrain ahead and impacted the ground. The accident resulted in four people sustaining minor injuries, including the two crew members and two passengers. First aid was administered at the crash site by other individuals on board.
Findings
- The aircraft experienced a stall during a turn on final approach.
- The aircraft failed to regain sufficient altitude to clear rising terrain during the stall recovery attempt.