Plane experienced in-flight icing before crashing west of Calgary: report

A report on a fatal plane crash west of Calgary earlier this year indicates the pilot noticed ice forming on the aircraft before it went down. 

The plane, a Mooney M20K (Mooney 231), crashed along Highway 1 near the Springbank Airport just after 3:30 p.m. on April 22, killing a 45-year-old man and injuring a 22-year-old woman.

The Transportation Safety Board of Canada (TSB) released the findings of its investigation into the crash on Monday.

In it, the TSB said the plane took off from the Springbank airport with two pilots on board just before 2:30 p.m. for a local round-robin flight.

The aircraft had recently been purchased and the purpose of the flight was for the right-seat pilot to become familiar with operating the Mooney and learn from the pilot-in-command, who was in the left seat, and had experience with the aircraft.

"The aircraft was later to be relocated to its new owner in Fort St. John, British Columbia, where the right-seat pilot was to provide type-specific instruction to the new owner," the report reads.

At 3:09 p.m., the pilot-in-command contacted air traffic services (ATS) and requested a lower altitude because the aircraft was "picking up a little ice."

ATS cleared the aircraft to descend with a restriction of not travelling below 6,200 feet above sea level (ASL).

Emergency crews respond to a fatal plane crash west of Calgary on Friday, April 22, 2022.The plane was recorded shortly later at an altitude of 6,100 feet ASL, travelling at a ground speed of 97 knots.

The plane continued to descend and ultimately struck the bank of a ditch of the north side of the Trans-Canada Highway and slid through a barbed wire fence, before coming to rest in a pasture.

During the impact, the right wing of the plane and propeller broke free.

The pilot-in-command, identified by friends as Michael James Wilton, died on impact and the other pilot, Megan Gallagher, was seriously injured.

The TSB noted that in-flight icing can form on an aircract as the result of three processes: super cooled water droplets, freezing of liquid water or the transition of vapour directly to ice – all of which can have a detrimental effect on the draft and lift.

The TBS's investigation was "unable to determine with certainty" what weather information the pilots consulted before the flight. However, the pilots had not contacted a Nav Canada flight information centre for a weather briefing before departure.

Ice accumulation is shown on a plane that crashed near Calgary in April 2022. (TSB report) "Pilots must be diligent when checking the weather before a flight by consulting all available weather resources, including Nav Canada flight information centres, and reviewing all available weather products, including pilot reports and special weather reports, for the area of the planned flight," the report reads.

"Weather conditions that are conducive to icing are difficult to predict. If icing is encountered when flying aircraft that are not certified for icing conditions, it is imperative that pilots exit the icing conditions immediately. Additionally, pilots should treat this situation as an emergency and declare it as such in order to obtain all available assistance."

The entire report is available on the TSB website.