Crash that killed seven due to unstable landing: TSB
MONTREAL — A pilot’s decision to continue with an unstable approach to landing was the key factor in a plane crash that killed former federal cabinet minister Jean Lapierre and six others, the Transportation Safety Board of Canada said Wednesday.
The March 2016 accident claimed the lives of the two pilots as well as Lapierre, his wife and three of his siblings.
They were aboard a Mitsubishi MU-2B-60 aircraft that slammed into the ground as it approached the airport in Îles-de-la-Madeleine.
“The pilot continued an unstable approach and experienced an aircraft upset at an altitude too low to prevent impact with the ground,” TSB chairwoman Kathy Fox said at a news conference in Montreal.
The TSB said the type of plane in question is a high-performance aircraft and is challenging to fly — particularly at low speed during sudden applications of engine power.
A video animation provided by the TSB showed the small plane veering onto a serpentine flight path as the pilot attempted to slow down with the plane approaching the airport.
But as the aircraft neared the ground it had slowed down so much that it neared stalling speed, the video noted, leading the pilot to quickly push the throttle to full power.
In a matter of seconds, the plane had rolled to the right and crashed, Fox said.
Lapierre, 59, was transport minister between 2004 and 2006.