Pilot error likely cause of Springbank plane crash
Instructor, student killed in Oct. 26 accident that happened just after takeoff
A plane crash that took the lives of a student pilot and instructor near Calgary wasn’t the result of mechanical failure, states an interim investigators’ report.
The report suggests pilot error was the cause of the Oct. 26 accident, said a former Transportation Safety Board (TSB) investigator.
There was no failure in the engines, controls or propellers when a Piper Seneca II aircraft plunged to the ground shortly after taking off from Springbank Airport, according to a TSB report released Monday.
A student with 140 hours of flight experience was at the controls of the plane, overseen by a flight instructor with a total of 2,150 hours of time in the air.
While the report says there were no crucial “mechanical deficiencies” found by investigators, inconsistencies were noted in how the plane — owned by Springbank Air Training College — was being flown.
“The aircraft speeds and altitudes after takeoff that were captured on radar data were not consistent with normal aircraft performance,” it says, adding no emergency communications were sent by the two.
Former TSB investigator Michael Poole said the report indicates the accident resulted from pilot error.
“There’s nothing wrong with the airplane, they’re basically saying it’s pilot technique,” said Poole, CEO of Plane Sciences, an Ottawa-based firm that designs flight investigation devices.
Weather was not a factor when the aircraft, which had reached a maximum height of 100 metres at a speed of no more than 150 km/h, rolled left then plunged into the ground, bursting into fire just west of the Calaway Park amusement area.
The two occupants died at the scene about 1.5 kilometres south of the runway.
Poole said it might be impossible to determine why the error occurred.
“It’s difficult to nail down with the lack of recorders,” he said, noting the plane was too small to require a flight data recorder.
At the time of the crash, the instructor was conducting a preparatory multi-engine flight test for the student, said the TSB report.
“It’s very easy to have the senior pilot distracted ... it’s a recipe for disaster to have no first officer,” Poole said.
TSB officials also said the plane wasn’t overloaded when it crashed.
Online records indicate the aircraft was built in 1975 and was once owned by a private pilot in Texas, before being brought to Canada last June. It was purchased by the Springbank Air Training College last summer.
The names of the victims have not been released.
TSB officials say their investigation is continuing and will include evaluating the plane’s performance, the flyers’ capabilities and the flight profile.