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7 dead in Quebec Island crash
Toronto Star: 7 people have died in a crash on landing at the Îles-de-la-Madeleine Airport on one of the Magdalen Islands in Quebec. One of the passengers is Jean Lapierre, former Quebec MP and Federal Minister of Transport (2004-6). The aircraft was reportedly a Mitsubishi MU-2B-60.
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Sole survivor according to the BBC
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the crash survivor died shortly after reaching hospital.
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MU2 Crash in Canadian Maritimes
MU2 crash in poor wx conditions:
Îles-de-la-Madeleine plane crash leaves 7 dead, including Jean Lapierre - Montreal - CBC News Nice destination, with quite flat area and approachable airport.... |
Mu2 are nasty little pieces of equipment.
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Looks like an "N" registration MU-2
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Family of 5 died on the way to a funeral. Plus 2 pilots.
Crashed 1 mile or so from airport. Moderate winds almost aligned with main runway. Visibility acceptable. OVC002 is probably a problem. Temperature 0 C. Dewpoint 0 C. Don't know if they have an ILS at CYGR. Witness nearby, which is 1 mile from airport, said there was an unusual loud airplane noise before crash; probably due to unusual low altitude compared to typical traffic. The upper wings detached. The tail and cockpit also detached. I suspect stall into the ground. But only the final report will finalize the cause. Localizer approach available. No GS. CYGR 291700Z 03024G32KT 1 3/4SM -RA BR OVC002 00/M00 A2886 RMK FG2SF6 SLP776 CYGR 291626Z 04024G30KT 1 1/2SM -RA BR OVC002 00/M00 A2884 RMK FG2SF6 SLP770 CYGR 291600Z 04020G28KT 2SM -RA BR OVC002 00/M00 A2884 RMK FG2SF6 SLP769 CYGR 291548Z 04020G27KT 2SM -RA BR OVC002 00/M00 A2884 RMK FG2SF6 SLP768 CYGR 291517Z 05017G27KT 2SM -RA BR BKN002 OVC008 00/M00 A2884 RMK FG2SF5SC1 SLP768 CYGR 291500Z 05018G29KT 2 1/2SM -RA BR BKN002 OVC008 00/M00 A2883 RMK FG2SF5SC1 SLP765 |
It's early to speculate but I have to wonder about an American registered aircraft doing a "charter" in Canada.
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Iles-de-la-Madeleine Crash
Jean Lapierre among 7 killed in Îles-de-la-Madeleine plane crash - Montreal - CBC News
An American corporately registered Mitsubishi MU-2B-60 (N246W) from St-Hubert, QC (CYHU) to Iles-de-la-Madeleine, QC (CYGR) crashed approximately 2 NM north of the CYGR airport. https://aviation-safety.net/wikibase/wiki.php?id=185997 7 dead RIP all... |
Apparently it crashed flat onto the ground and bounced to it's final resting place.
According to the media it crashed "aux abords du chemin Richard, de la route 199 et du chemin du Cap-Rouge." which would make it 2 miles from the threshold where the plane would normally be 500 ft above threshold. A witness said: " Il a levé les yeux et, à travers le brouillard, a vu ce qu’il ne voulait pas voir. «J’ai regardé et je l’ai vu tomber, comme quand on fait un «flat» sur l’eau, sur le ventre». Il a aussitôt fait le 9-1-1. L’avion s’est écrasé dans un petit vallon, sur une pente ascendante. «Il a fait un rebond, il s’est affaissé, est retombé et “poufff”, j’ai vu de la boucane. Après, y a plus rien qui bougeait" |
Note that the eyewitness quoted puts the crash site south of the runway*, just north of the shoreline, not north of the airport as the linked news item states.
*loosely translated. "in the vicinity of Richard road, Route 199, and Cap-Rouge road." |
Most of my turboprop time was in MU2-J's (800 hrs). They were great to fly - most of the time... EXCEPT in icing conditions, then things became hairy!
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Maybe CFIT !? There might have been snow everywhere, a whiteout. The ultimate minimum DH was 340 AGL; depending on approach chosen. Ceilings were 200 ft. Maybe freezing rain.
But CFIT would have completely destroyed the airframe at nominal speed. |
Il a mentionné que l’appareil avait perdu brusquement de l’altitude à quelques kilomètres de l’aéroport, |
From what I can tell from the available approaches in Foreflight, the LOC/DME 07 has an MDA off 480 ft which is lower than the RNAV 07 MDA of 620 ft. And that's only an "LNAV" MDA. Neither of which are helpful with the 200 ft OVC in that last Wx.
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There is more to this story...
Still to be determined if true but sources say that the reason the aircraft was still "American registered" was it could not meet the technical requirements to be a "Canadian" registered MU-2. Also at first it was mentioned that the aircraft was chartered which would have been illegal with an "N" tail in Canada but it now seems the owner of the aircraft which may have been one of the pilots onboard was a friend of M. Lapierre and to help him get to his dad's funeral decided to fly him and his party into the island. The reason this came about was that Air Canada/Jazz had apparently cancelled their flights into the island because of the bad weather which incidentally got worse after the crash... Very sad story. |
There is more to this story...
Still to be determined if true but sources say that the reason the aircraft was still "American registered" was it could not meet the technical requirements to be a "Canadian" registered MU-2. Also at first it was mentioned that the aircraft was chartered which would have been illegal with an "N" tail in Canada but it now seems the owner of the aircraft which may have been one of the pilots onboard was a friend of M. Lapierre and to help him get to his dad's funeral decided to fly him and his party into the island. The reason this came about was that Air Canada/Jazz had apparently cancelled their flights into the island because of the bad weather which incidentally got worse after the crash... Very sad story. |
I can't imagine what M.Lapierre's mother is going through at the moment - this so soon after losing her husband. :uhoh:
I don't know much about the MU-2B, so I did a little research on faa.gov, and what I found there is a bit alarming. For example, Rep. Tom Tancredo (R-CO) wrote to the FAA, asking them to ground the MU-2B after a fatal crash near Denver in 2004. He says the plane has a poor reputation (with a bad nickname), and refers to NTSB stats and airworthiness directives about it. The FAA issued SFAR 108 in 2005, requiring pilots to have a type rating on the MU-2, and as of 2010 the results appear to have been positive. |
Weather like that? Not the plane's fault...
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With a N registration and probable recent purchase maybe the pilot/owner, with 2400 hrs total, had very few hours on that type of plane.
With a wing on top how is its stall characteristics ? Does it tend to roll less and flat stall ? Or is it still a nervous excessive roller ? Also there was an extreme low pressure of A2884 over the airport. Improper altimeter setting ? Accidental altimeter setting of A2984 would have caused the plane to fly 1000 ft lower than indicated. |
Even worst for the mother and sister awaiting, Lapierre was with wife, two brothers and a sister... They all gathered a YHU and knew there was a chance that the friend pilot might cancel the flight; he didn't. The external pressure on the pilot, a friend wanting to help grieving family members get to their father's funeral, might be an important factor despite known marginal/uncertain conditions at destination a small island airport about 100 mi from the continent, and an aircraft with poor performances. One can imagine the guy feeling it almost impossible to say no... The irony is that Lapierre was not at all the type of guy to put undue pressure on people - to the contrary. What strikes me is that "self-induced pressure to deliver" is something I recognize myself in and was afraid of a few time in the past.
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The reason this came about was that Air Canada/Jazz had apparently cancelled their flights into the island because of the bad weather which incidentally got worse after the crash... Very sad story. |
The copilot was a friend flight instructor and I doubt that he also had many hours on type.
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No ILS at CYGR. Only LOC. Circling approaches from South sector discouraged due to elevation.
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The pilot/owner was a friend of the former minister so this was probably a "friend" flight since the majors cancelled flights to that airport due to minimums. Sounds like getthereitist.
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Originally Posted by alph2z
Also there was an extreme low pressure of A2884 over the airport. Improper altimeter setting ? Accidental altimeter setting of A2984 would have caused the plane to fly 1000 ft lower than indicated.
Both the Capt and F/O had set the wrong altimeter setting and because their lights were turned down so low, I didn't catch it. Luckily, a BOS approach controller caught our mistake as we descended 600 ft below our assigned altitude.:uhoh: |
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When the QNH is that low, Air Traffic Services are required to state the altimeter setting twice.
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Approach plate
Originally Posted by alph2z
(Post 9327532)
Family of 5 died on the way to a funeral. Plus 2 pilots.
Crashed 1 mile or so from airport. Moderate winds almost aligned with main runway. Visibility acceptable. OVC002 is probably a problem. Temperature 0 C. Dewpoint 0 C. Don't know if they have an ILS at CYGR. Witness nearby, which is 1 mile from airport, said there was an unusual loud airplane noise before crash; probably due to unusual low altitude compared to typical traffic. The upper wings detached. The tail and cockpit also detached. I suspect stall into the ground. But only the final report will finalize the cause. Localizer approach available. No GS. CYGR 291700Z 03024G32KT 1 3/4SM -RA BR OVC002 00/M00 A2886 RMK FG2SF6 SLP776 CYGR 291626Z 04024G30KT 1 1/2SM -RA BR OVC002 00/M00 A2884 RMK FG2SF6 SLP770 CYGR 291600Z 04020G28KT 2SM -RA BR OVC002 00/M00 A2884 RMK FG2SF6 SLP769 CYGR 291548Z 04020G27KT 2SM -RA BR OVC002 00/M00 A2884 RMK FG2SF6 SLP768 CYGR 291517Z 05017G27KT 2SM -RA BR BKN002 OVC008 00/M00 A2884 RMK FG2SF5SC1 SLP768 CYGR 291500Z 05018G29KT 2 1/2SM -RA BR BKN002 OVC008 00/M00 A2883 RMK FG2SF5SC1 SLP765 http://www.ivao.ca/charts/CAP5/CYGR.pdf |
The main witness revealed that the plane came down with one wing down and the other up. He was the 1st one to approach the debris and there wasn't any signs of life.
The plane might have been on base and turning onto final, thus the slower wing stalling 1st. EDIT: There is no base on a non-circling IFR approach. The plane has an approach speed of 230 km/hr or 140 mph. A fast airplane for its weight. |
Since the FAA introduced mandatory type training for the MU-2 I believe from memory that their safety record is the best for aircraft in their category. This crash has all the hallmarks, starting with a real case of "must-get-in-itis", of an approach pushed far too far.
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Seems eerily similar to the Hawker accident at KAKR last November.
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Sadly too much deads ! Bad weather LOC/DME approach with 480'-11/2 minima with a 300'- 3/4 wind 32G45 at the moment of the approach (((
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The Transportation Safety Board of Canada has posted photos of the accident aircraft on their Flickr page here : https://www.flickr.com/photos/tsbcanada/
https://c2.staticflickr.com/2/1493/2...08e036d07f.jpg https://www.flickr.com/photos/tsbcanada/25535913753/ |
The US magazine "flying" has a long record of watching the MU-2 and its accident record
A few years back they concluded it was a "hot" aircraft compared to other twins you might come across but that the company had put in place a really thorough training (and re-training) program and people who had done the course were no more likely to crash than any other medium twin |
Idiotic report by Stephen Puddicombe on CBC Radio this morning. Apparently he was astonished by the preliminary pronouncement of an NTSB investigator on the scene, who surmised that it looks to have been a landing accident. Puddicombe went on to hint darkly that the aircraft involved (which he did not identify) had a less than stellar accident record (wings "too thin and narrow") and should not have been operating in the Iles-de-la-Madeleine, implying that another aircraft would have landed safely.
More c**p from the Holy Mother Corp. Rockhound |
I can't help but notice that the wreckage makes it look like the structure was unusually, well, brittle. It appears to have shattered like an old-fashioned Christmas tree ornament.
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Many TV news videos of the wreckage site in french. Detached wings, engines, bent props, tail cone, cockpit, fuselage, etc....
Gaspésie et Iles-de-la-Madeleine - Actualités régionales | TVA Nouvelles |
The TSB added some aerial shots of the crash site to their flickr page.
https://c2.staticflickr.com/2/1659/2...9045399f_b.jpg |
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