Ontario

Air Cargo Carriers, Inc. Flight SNC2917, a Short Brothers SD3-60 aircraft (registration N748CC, serial number SH3748), was on a charter cargo flight from Toledo, Ohio, USA, to Oshawa, Ontario, with two pilots on board. The crew conducted an instrument flight rules approach to Oshawa Municipal Airport in night instrument meteorological conditions. At approximately 2000 eastern standard time, the aircraft landed on Runway 30, which was snow-covered. During the landing roll, the pilot flying noted poor braking action and observed the runway end lights approaching. He rejected the landing and conducted a go-around procedure. The aircraft became airborne, but it started to descend as it flew over lower terrain, striking an airport boundary fence. It continued until it struck rising terrain and then a line of forestation, where it came to an abrupt stop. The flight crew exited the aircraft and waited for rescue personnel to render assistance. The aircraft was substantially damaged, and both pilots sustained serious injuries. There was no post-crash fire.

Upon landing on Birch Lake, the second compartment of the right float ruptured. The aircraft nosed down and sank. All five occupants were able to evacuate the cabin and to swim to the shore. The aircraft was written off.

Pickerel Arm Camps is located about 22 km south of Sioux Lookout, Ontario. It operates a main campsite at its water base and several remote fishing lodges. The company operates two float equipped de Havilland DHC-2 Beaver aircraft to fly guests and supplies to their remote sites. Seven guests of the company arrived at the water base on 18 May 2004, the day before their scheduled four-day fishing trip at Fawcett Lake, one of the remote lodges. Because the remote lodge was available, a decision was made to fly in that afternoon. The group was divided in two, and a group of three guests and all the supplies for the seven guests were to go in the first aircraft. The second group of four, with their personal baggage, was to follow in the company’s other Beaver. The occurrence aircraft, a de Havilland DHC-2 Beaver (C-GQHT, serial number 682) with one pilot and three camp guests on board, departed the company water base at approximately 1700 eastern daylight time on a day visual flight rules flight to Fawcett Lake. At approximately 1930, the pilot and the other four guests arrived in the second aircraft to discover that the first group had not arrived. The guests later found the accident aircraft overturned in the lake. Ontario Provincial Police divers recovered the bodies of the pilot and the three passengers. The aircraft sustained substantial damage. There was no fire.

On 17 January 2004, the occurrence pilot started his workday in Toronto, Ontario, reporting for duty at 0445 eastern standard time. In the morning, he completed flights in the Cessna 208B Caravan from Toronto to Windsor, Ontario, Windsor to Pelee Island, Ontario, and then Pelee Island to Windsor where the aircraft landed at 0916. At approximately 1500, the pilot received local weather and passenger information by telephone from the Pelee Island office personnel. The 1430 weather was reported as follows: ceiling 500 feet obscured, visibility two miles. There were eight male passengers for pick up at Pelee Island. One additional passenger was travelling with the pilot. There was no discussion concerning the amount of cargo to be carried or the passenger weights. At 1508, the pilot received a faxed weather package that he had requested from the Flight Information Centre (FIC) in London, Ontario. At 1523, the aircraft was refuelled in preparation for the scheduled 1600 departure to Pelee Island. The passengers were loaded earlier than usual to allow time for aircraft de-icing, as wet snow had accumulated on the fuselage and wings since the previous flight. At 1555, the aircraft was de-iced with Type 1 de-icing fluid, and it departed for Pelee Island at 1605 on an instrument flight rules (IFR) flight plan as Flight GGN125. At 1615, the pilot advised the Cleveland Control Centre, Ohio, United States, that he had Pelee Island in sight, was cancelling IFR, and was descending out of 5000 feet. The pilot also advised Cleveland that he would be departing IFR out of Pelee Island in about 20 minutes as GGN126 and asked if a transponder code could be issued. The Cleveland controller issued a transponder code and requested a call when GGN126 became airborne. The pilot advised that the flight would depart on Runway 27 then turn north. These were the last recorded transmissions from the aircraft. The aircraft landed at 1620. While on the ramp, two individuals voiced concern to the pilot that there was ice on the wing. Freezing precipitation was falling. The pilot was observed to visually check the leading edge of the wing; however, he did not voice any concern and proceeded with loading the passengers and cargo. At approximately 1638, GGN126 departed Pelee Island for Windsor. After using most of the runway length for take-off, the aircraft climbed out at a very shallow angle. No one on the ground observed the aircraft once it turned toward the north; however, witnesses who were not at the airport reported that they heard the sound of a crash, then no engine noise. A normal flight from Pelee Island to Windsor in the Cessna Caravan takes 15 to 20 minutes. Shortly after the aircraft departed, the ticket agent in Windsor received a call from Pelee Island reporting that a crash had been heard. At 1705, when the aircraft had not arrived, the ticket agent called Windsor tower. The pilot had not made contact with any air traffic services (ATS) facility immediately before or after departure, so there was nothing in the ATS system to indicate that the aircraft had taken off. It was, therefore, unaccounted for. There was no signal heard from the emergency locator transmitter (ELT). At 1710, the Windsor tower controller contacted the Rescue Coordination Centre in Trenton, Ontario, and a search was initiated. At 1908, the aircraft empennage and debris were spotted by a United States Coast Guard (USCG) helicopter on the frozen surface of the lake, about 1.6 nautical miles (nm) from the departure end of the runway. There were no survivors. The empennage sank beneath the surface some four hours later. The wreckage recovery was not fully completed until 13 days later.

On take off roll on runway 25 at dusk, left wing struck a snowbank on left side of the runway. Aircraft veered off runway and came to rest in snow with its nose gear sheared off and several damages to the fuselage. Both pilots were uninjured.

At approximately 0900 eastern standard time (EST), the pilot arrived at the airstrip and prepared the ski-equipped de Havilland DHC–3 (Otter) aircraft (registration C–GOFF, serial number 65) for the morning flight. This Otter was equipped with a turbine engine. Two passengers, with enough supplies for an extended period of time, including a snowmobile and camping gear, were to be flown to a remote location. The pilot loaded the aircraft and waited for the weather to improve. At approximately 1200 EST, the pilot and passengers boarded the aircraft and took off in an easterly direction. The aircraft got airborne near the departure end of the airstrip, and, shortly after take-off, the right wing struck a number of small bushes and the top of a birch tree. The aircraft descended and struck the frozen lake surface, approximately 70 feet below the airfield elevation in a steep, nose-down, right-wing-low attitude. When it came to rest, the aircraft was inverted and partially submerged, with only the aft section of the fuselage remaining above the ice. All of the occupants were wearing lap belts. The pilot and front seat passenger received fatal injuries. The rear seat passenger survived the impact and evacuated the aircraft with some difficulty due to leg injuries. The following morning, about 22 hours after the accident, a local air operator searching for the missing aircraft located and rescued the surviving passenger.

The aircraft departed Pickle Lake to Summer Beaver, Ontario, on a charter flight with seven passengers and one crew member. The flight proceeded on a direct routing to destination at 3500 feet above sea level under night visual flight conditions. On approaching Summer Beaver, the aircraft joined the circuit on a downwind leg for a landing on Runway 17. When the aircraft did not land, personnel at Summer Beaver contacted the Pickle Lake flight dispatch to inquire about the flight. The aircraft was declared missing following an unsuccessful radio search by the Pickle Lake flight dispatch staff. Search and rescue personnel found the wreckage in a wooded area three nautical miles northwest of Summer Beaver. The aircraft had been nearly consumed by a post-crash fire. All eight people on board had been fatally injured.

The aircraft with a single pilot on board was performing firefighting operations in the vicinity of Lake Wicksteed, approximately 10 nautical miles north of Hornepayne, Ontario. The aircraft was scooping water from Lake Wicksteed for the nearby fire. The lake is approximately 7300 feet in length with gentle rising terrain along its shoreline. This was the third scooping from the lake, and the approach was flown in an easterly direction in light wind conditions. The pilot performed the inbound checks, lowered the water probes to begin filling the float water tanks, and touched down on the lake. Within a short time, he observed water spraying from the overflow vents located on top of the floats, indicating that the tanks were filled to capacity. He pressed a button on the yoke to retract the probes, and the aircraft immediately nosed over into the lake in a wings-level attitude and began to sink. The accident occurred at approximately 1800 eastern daylight time. The pilot extricated himself from the aircraft and held on to the side of the partially submerged aircraft. A witness to the occurrence immediately boarded a powered, aluminum boat and went to assist the pilot, while a second witness travelled to Hornepayne to notify the authorities and emergency services. Once the pilot reached the shore, he was taken to a nearby cottage where he remained until emergency services arrived. The aircraft came to rest on the bottom of the shallow lake in an inverted attitude with the floats above the surface of the water.

The aircraft was en route from Holinshead Lake to Kasshabog Lake when the pilot encountered deteriorating weather conditions. As the flight progressed, the ceiling became increasingly lower until it was nearly at tree top level. Shortly thereafter, the pilot located a cabin at the destination outpost camp. On final approach to the camp, the aircraft struck the water while in a turn, tearing off one float and it eventually sank. The pilot and four passengers exited the aircraft and attempted to swim ashore. While swimming, one of the passengers went missing and was not located. Ontario Provincial Police divers were dispatched to search for the missing passenger. Three people were slightly injured and one seriously.

The pilot attempted to take off from a private grass airstrip (2,400 feet long) located at 22678 Purple Hill Road, about 13,5 km north of London Airport, Ontario. The aircraft failed to get airborne and eventually came to rest in a cornfield. The aircraft was damaged beyond repair and both occupants were injured. A witness observed smoke coming from the aircraft's wheels and the pilot suspected that the parking brake was not fully disengaged.