A report on last year’s plane crash near Campbell River found the plane’s modifications weren’t recorded properly.
That comes from the Transportation Safety Board of Canada, who have released their investigation report into the crash, which happened on September 20.
On that day, two pilots were conducting a local flight from the Campbell River Airport with a De Havilland Canada DHC-2 Beaver aircraft, where after a stall exercise, the plane was unable to maintain altitude, and a forced landing was made.
This led to the plane colliding with terrain 181 kilometers southwest of Campbell River, with both pilots able to get out of the plane without help, only suffering minor injuries. The plane was damaged, but no post-impact fire erupted.
Related: UPDATE: Plane crash near Campbell River under investigation – My Campbell River Now
The safety board began their investigation after the crash, where according to the report, the pilot-in-command was familiar with the plane, while the co-pilot was a test pilot undergoing aircraft familiarization.
“According to information gathered during the investigation, there was no indication that the performance of either pilot was affected by medical or physiological factors,” said the board.
The board says the plane was issued 2 flight permits by Transport Canada (TC), an experimental flight permit and a specific purpose flight permit.
The experimental permit authorized a flight test program to develop a certificate that could allow the plane’s RED A03-005 engine to be installed, while the specific purpose permit allowed for demonstrations and training flights.
With the plane needing to be configured and equipped in line with a technical drawing specified by those permits, the board says the plane’s modifications did not comply with the conditions of the permits.
“They had not been communicated to TC for the issuance of a revised flight authority,” said the board.
“Furthermore, the investigation determined that the technical drawing referenced by the issued flight permits was incorrect. Rather than detailing the complete configuration of the aircraft, the referenced drawing was limited to details of the aircraft’s engine mount.”
Some of the modifications included removing a reversing propeller governor from the engine and installing a non-reversing one, installing and removing a prototype reversing propeller governor before the flight, and re-installing the non-reversing governor.
All of those changes weren’t documented in either the plane’s maintenance or technical records, according to the report.
The board is reminding aircraft owners and operators to make sure all maintenance must be properly recorded to help determine airworthiness and aircraft status.
For the full report, click here.
