Safety gear, training, helped B.C. wildfire pilot survive crash, safety board says
A Transportation Safety Board report says experience, recent training and safety equipment were key factors in a pilot surviving the crash of a firefighting plane south of Cranbrook, B.C., in August 2022.
The report says the pilot was alone in the Air Tractor AT-802A aircraft and had just finished his eighth water drop when the engine suddenly lost power, with no time to recover because of the low altitude.
The report says the pilot couldn't quickly diagnose the problem, so focused instead on the emergency landing, and managing the aircraft’s speed and rate of descent to ensure he would reach a landing site.
When the plane came down 200 metres from the fire, a tree went through the windshield, but the report says the pilot was wearing a helmet and had a five-point harness, which, combined with a low-impact landing, limited his injuries.
The report says the investigation wasn't able to determine why the engine cut out and no fault was found with the fuel control unit.
The board says Conair Group Inc., the operator of the plane, is providing all its Air Tractor pilots with low-level engine failure training and has introduced a flight briefing on engine failures.
The report says the aircraft was "substantially damaged" in the crash.
--
This report by The Canadian Press was first published on May 1, 2024.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Drive one of these vehicles? You may pay 37 per cent more than average insurance costs due to thefts
As the number of auto theft incidents rises in Canada, so have insurance premiums for drivers, even the ones whose vehicles aren't stolen.
Israel's war cabinet minister moves to dissolve parliament: statement
Israeli war cabinet minister Benny Gantz's centrist party has proposed holding a vote to dissolve parliament in a bid to bring about an early election, his party said in a statement on Thursday.
'I'm not wealthy': Ontario senior shocked she owes $40,000 in capital gains after gifting land
An Ontario senior who wanted to help her daughter and grandson eventually own homes one day decided to give them two lots on her property as a gift—but she didn’t know it would eventually cost her tens of thousands of dollars.
DEVELOPING BMO clients face outages in Canada, U.S. following data centre fire alarm
Bank of Montreal clients on both sides of the border Thursday morning have reported outages with banking services. BMO said its technical team is investigating.
Nick Taylor of Abbotsford, B.C., begins RBC Canadian Open defence
Nick Taylor begins the defence of his RBC Canadian Open title this morning.
B.C. mortgage broker ran $270-million Ponzi scheme, then fled Canada, bankruptcy trustee says
The trustee appointed to manage the bankruptcies of a Victoria mortgage company and its owner has concluded that they committed "numerous offences" and operated as a "massive Ponzi scheme."
Want to turn off Meta AI? You can't - but there are some workarounds
If you use Facebook, WhatsApp or Instagram, you've probably noticed a new character pop up answering search queries or eagerly offering tidbits of information in your feeds, with varying degrees of accuracy.
opinion Trump's Republicans falling far behind in fundraising, infrastructure
In his latest column for CTVNews.ca, Washington political analyst Eric Ham explains how and why Republicans -- up and down the ballot -- are falling far behind Democrats in both fundraising and infrastructure.
Canadians are eyeing moves to these cities for more affordable housing
Faced with elevated housing prices, half of Canadians in the country's largest cities are considering moving to places with more affordable housing.