An Air Tindi plane that made a forced landing on a frozen Great Slave Lake in November 2014 was overweight for the icy conditions that day, according to the Transportation Safety Board of Canada (TSB).
There were no injuries to the pilot or five passengers when the Cessna 208B Caravan landed on the lake outside Yellowknife on November 20.
Background: The TSB’s Full Report Into The Forced Landing
The aircraft sustained heavy damage however, after striking a rock outcropping.
In a report released Thursday, the TSB found that the pilot “underestimated the severity and duration of icing conditions to be encountered during the flight.”
The aircraft was also unbalanced and 155 kilograms above its certified maximum weight given the icy conditions, which limited its ability to maintain altitude.
The safety agency also determined that ineffective passenger briefings and stowage of survival equipment before the flight presented additional risk factors.
The plane was flying from Yellowknife to Fort Simpson when the pilot issued a mayday distress call just over half an hour into the flight. All six of the plane’s occupants were rescued four hours after the hard landing.
Since the incident, Air Tindi temporarily suspended Cessna Caravan operations and undertook a number of safety actions.
They included enhanced oversight of aircraft dispatch procedures, more thorough weather monitoring and improved training for operations in icy conditions.
