What happened
On the morning of April 13, 2015, a Swearingen SA226-TC Metro II, registered as C-GSKC, departed from Vancouver International Airport (CYVR) bound for Prince George, British Columbia. The flight, operated by Carson Air Ltd., was being conducted under instrument flight rules with two pilots on board.
Shortly after takeoff, at approximately 0709 Pacific Daylight Time, the aircraft vanished from radar tracking. The loss of contact occurred roughly six minutes into the flight while the plane was climbing through 8,700 feet. The incident took place in instrument meteorological conditions, positioned about 4 nautical miles north of the North Vancouver urban area.
Search efforts were significantly obstructed by heavy snowfall and low cloud cover. Despite these challenges, ground teams eventually located the wreckage on steep, snow-covered mountainside later that afternoon. The impact resulted in the total destruction of the aircraft and two fatalities.
Findings
Investigation of the wreckage indicated that the aircraft had undergone a catastrophic in-flight breakup. While the onboard 406-megahertz emergency locator transmitter did activate following the crash, the antenna sustained damage during the event, which prevented the Cospas-Sarsat satellite system from receiving the distress signal.