An engine stall in a plane flying 200 to 300 feet above ground near Lloydminster, Alta., in September 2024, preceded its fatal crash, federal investigators say.
The Transportation Safety Board of Canada (TSB) released its report into the Sept. 8, 2024, incident on Wednesday; it said there was no indication the aircraft operators, who were trained to fly at low altitude, were negatively impacted by medical or physiological factors.
Their plane — a Cessna U206F aircraft operated by KBM Forestry Consultants Inc. — departed Kindersley Regional Aerodrome in Saskatchewan at 2:47 p.m. for an aerial power line inspection near Lloydminster.
The flight was part of a multi-day operation to photograph power lines, the TSB said. The crew shared the duties of pilot and observer; whoever flew in the morning operated the cameras in the afternoon.
At one point during their flight, the pilot turned for the observer to take photos of an intersection of power lines. After those photos were taken, the pilot started a right turn some 200 to 300 feet above ground when the engine stalled. The plane began to descend rapidly before it impacted the terrain.
The whole incident took three seconds to unfold, the TSB said.
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“The pilot received fatal injuries. The observer received serious injuries and died three days later,” the report reads.
“The aircraft was destroyed. There was no indication of fire either before or after the occurrence.”
Weather was not considered to be a factor, the report added. There were no recorded defects with the plane, and no indication that a component or system malfunction played a role in the incident.
The TSB added data from an onboard video camera appeared to indicate the force applied to the plane’s elevator during the last turn was greater than its previous turns.
“The increased load factor would have increased the stall speed. The investigation determined that the aircraft experienced a stall during the turn. The stall occurred at a height at which it would have been difficult to regain control of the aircraft before the collision with the terrain,” it said.
“When required to conduct steep turns at low height, pilots need to be cautious given that there may be insufficient height to recover from an inadvertent stall.”
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