10 killed in Caravan crash
 

10 believed dead in small plane crash: airline

CTV.ca News Staff

Updated: Sat. Jan. 17 2004 11:55 PM ET

The president of an airline whose plane crashed into Lake Erie Saturday said it appears no one has survived the accident -- one that has likely killed 10 people.

"It was not an extraordinary flight," Paul Mulrooney of Georgian Express told The Canadian Press. "The airplane was certainly equipped for those conditions. It was just a normal winter day."

Snow, freezing rain and low clouds were reportedly hampering search efforts. The U.S. Coast Guard helicopter which discovered the crash site reportedly had to hover just 15 metres above the lake in order to be below the clouds.

Two Canadian rescue helicopters dispatched from CFB Trenton, roughly 450 kilometres away from the crash scene, couldn't reach the site because of heavy snowfall.

There were eight passengers and one pilot listed for the flight, but Mulrooney said an extra passenger may have slipped on board at the last minute.

The airline, which is based in Mississauga, operates three flights per day between Pelee Island, located towards the western end of Lake Erie, and Windsor. A normal flight is about 30 minutes. Mulrooney said the Toronto-based pilot of this tragic flight was an experienced aviator who had flown the route many times.

The U.S. Coast Guard made the discovery of the Georgian Express Cessna 208 Caravan single-engine aircraft, which was found nose-down in the water, around 7 p.m. ET.

That journey would normally take about 30 minutes. The aircraft left around 4:30 p.m. ET and never arrived. Air traffic controllers say they got a frantic message from the aircraft and then heard nothing.

When the situation became known, two U.S. Coast Guard helicopters were dispatched from Detroit.

Both a Canadian coast guard ship and a U.S. Coast Guard cutter, which had been doing some ice-breaking duty, were expected to arrive at the scene sometime Saturday night.

"We really don't expect to get some really concrete news certainly until at least daybreak, until we get some daylight in there and have the vessels in there," John Leclerc of the Canadian search and rescue co-ordination centre at CFB Trenton told The Canadian Press.

The debris field from the crash appeared to be extensive, he said.

Of the eight confirmed passengers, police said four were from Chatham, two were from Windsor and two others were from Kingville. All were men. Authorities are attempting to notify the victims' families.

Transport Canada and the Transportation Safety Board were investigating.

Beyond 17 and still counting
 

17 PT-6A engine failures up until May 03 and all with the same simple cause. They know what's causing it - but have they yet got a fix? Has it been compulsorily implemented? How many fatalities are attributable? How many accidents?

I'd be thinking twice about driving farepayers around in large singles.

10am CBC radio report has a/c sliding on ice 8-12" thick then breaking through:(

Given reported weather conditions, airframe and induction icing major suspects -- perhaps more so than number of engines.

Icing?
 

Weather observations at Windsor, Ontario (from Environment Canada website):

17 Jan. 2004 18:00 EST Light Freezing Rain -4 89 -6 SSW 9 100.9 2 *
17 Jan. 2004 17:00 EST Light Freezing Rain -5 89 -6 SSW 9 101.0 2 *
17 Jan. 2004 16:00 EST Light Snow -5 87 -7 S 11 101.1 3 -10
17 Jan. 2004 15:00 EST Light Snow -5 84 -8 S 18 101.2 2 -11
17 Jan. 2004 14:00 EST Light Snow -6 84 -8 SSE 20 101.3 1 -13
17 Jan. 2004 13:00 EST Light Snow -6 84 -9 S 14 101.6 2 -12
17 Jan. 2004 12:00 EST Light Snow -7 84 -9 SSE 14 101.8 1 -13
17 Jan. 2004 11:00 EST Snow Grains -6 73 -10 SSE 20 101.9 3 -13

Icing?

Icing -- yep!
 

Freezing Rain is as bad as it gets. Mind you Pelee Island is a considerable distance from Windsor and icing tends to be highly localised.

For the benefit of those unfamiliar with Environment Canada's "Past 24 hour conditions" column headers:

Date
Hour
Weather
Temp. (°C)
Humidity (%)
DewPoint (°C)
Wind (km/h)
Pressure (kPa)
Visibility (km)
WindChill

I'd like to see the precip radar for that time.

The one time I got into severe freezing rain I managed to get out in about 30 seconds (by a very rapid 180).

The aircraft, an Aztec, was completely covered in ice in that time, and a thickness of about 1/2" had flowed back to about half the chord. The deicing I was carrying (pneumatic boots on the flying surfaces, heated boots on the props and heated windshield plate) were so inadequate for the task that they may as well not existed.

I honestly believe that another 30-60 secs and Bernouli would have given up, the controls would have frozen, the engines would have stopped from impact ice and I would have, to quote Monty Python, not so much flown as plummeted.

It's nasty, nasty stuff and must be high on the list of usual suspects.

A little early to point at this and say "SET? tsk tsk", I'd've thought.

Timothy

If indeed this accident was caused by icing , then it would not be the first C-208, that this carrier has lost due to icing.

Shortly after take-off
 

It did happen very shortly after take-off. Would freezing rain have struck that fast?

January 18, 2003 - Small Plane Crashes in Lake Erie

SANDUSKY, Ohio (USA) - A single-engine plane carrying at least nine people crashed Saturday in snowy weather shortly after taking off from an island in Lake Erie, the U.S. Coast Guard said. There was no immediate word on whether anyone survived.

The pilot radioed a frantic call for help shortly after taking off about 5 p.m., but controllers then lost contact with the plane, Coast Guard Lt. j.g. Christopher Pasciuto said.

A helicopter found the wreckage about 7:30 p.m. Saturday about a mile west of Ontario's Pelee Island, Pasciuto said.

The wreckage of the Georgian Express plane was in the water with ice around it, airline president Paul Mulrooney said.

Helicopter search lights were scanning the water to look for survivors, Coast Guard Chief Petty Officer Mark Freeman said. The cutter Neah Bay was headed from the Detroit area to join the search.

The plane, a Cessna 208 Caravan, was bound for Windsor, Ontario, across the border from Detroit, and crashed about 20 miles north of Sandusky.

Mulrooney said 10 people - nine passengers and a pilot - may have been on board, but it was unclear whether one passenger made the flight.

Officials with the Canadian Coast Guard, the Ontario Provincial Police and Transport Canada - Canada's equivalent of the Federal Aviation Administration - did not immediately return calls for comment.

Mulrooney said his Mississauga, Ontario-based company has flights between the island and Windsor up to three times daily.

``It's only used in the winter months when the island is icebound and they can't use the ferry to get back and forth,'' he said.

The region has been locked in bitterly cold weather, with temperatures in the 20s Saturday in northern Ohio. The water temperature in Lake Erie, where waves were running 3 feet to 5 feet, was about 33 degrees.

Local pilot cancelled flights because of icing
 

from Washington Post

Tgas,didn't the Caravan 'stall'on final crash at Barrie,couple years ago,result from airframe Icing(pilot ,son of a friend)..
Evedence of Ice still on the wing after the accident??:confused:

Check out

http://aviation-safety.net/database/1997/1997-loss.html

March 4 and November 25

Debris Field 100 x 500 feet
 

Just reported on CBC Radio.

Ice shifting because of wind is delaying recovery efforts and has distorted debris field which includes baggage (perhaps from lower pod). I guess divers are not going down until they are sure they can get back up. Wreckage reported in 8 metres of water.

weather info
 

Where is the "historical" weather link on the Env Canada website?

I'm looking around there now, but can't seem to find it.

thx

Mike

I'm based in London on the Air Ambulance helicopter. I recieved a request to attend the scene (or go to Pelee and look....) at about 6pm last night.
I was looking at 400ft overcast in light freezing drizzle and a temp below -10 actual METAR from Windsor.

As you would imagine I declined the call because it just seemed impossible to get through.

I am very sorry about the loss of life here but I wonder what the hurry was to get to Pelee from Windsor. It is only a 20 min flight and the pilot would've been faced with the same info I was. The freezing rain was forcast to arrive all day and the wx radar showed it arriving as expected.

Additionally, I noted that either the arcal or vasis's were U/S in Pelee. Anything at night would've been difficult.

My regrets to the pilots family and friends and our acquaintences down in Pelee.

Steve76,

Thanks for the weather update.

Is there any "civilisation" / place to stay overnight at Pelee?

I guess even the terminal "shack" would have been better than nothing. (Hindsight mode).

Mike

Re: Environment Canada
 

Mike
QUOTE]Where is the "historical" weather link on the Env Canada website?[/QUOTE]
http://weatheroffice.ec.gc.ca/foreca...tml?yqg&unit=m

Rotor,

re: weather.

Thks I found that same page, but it only seems to go back 24 hrs.

Mike

I think Pelee has a hotel/pub for accomodation. In those small communities there is always someone who would put you up for the night. The clinic is open as well and there are beds in there if it is an issue.

Mike
You are correct. It only goes back 24 hours from the present time.
When I posted at 10:56 this morning, I was able to get the wx for the time of the accident, which was within the 24 hour period. Unfortunately, I don't know if you can go back more than 24 hours.

All that aside, it is a terrible tragedy. Having done some commercial flying I know how everyone must feel.

>I think Pelee has a hotel/pub for accomodation. In those small

Thx for the info.

Mike