The Transportation Safety Board of Canada (TSB) says the federal government’s response to an aircraft safety recommendation has been “unsatisfactory,” following a small plane crash on Vancouver Island last year.
In July 2023, an Air Nootka De Havilland plane crashed into thick forest while attempting to land near Gold River, B.C. The incident seriously injured the pilot, who was the only person on board.
The TSB has now published a report about the crash and found that the plane experienced an aerodynamic stall, which happens when “a wing’s angle of attack exceeds the critical angle at which the airflow begins to separate.” This then led to the aircraft not being able to generate enough lift to stay in the air.
The report also found that the plane had no system to warn the pilot about the stall, making it one of the few aircraft types still in commercial operation without such a feature. But it says this wasn’t a defect because the system wasn’t required by regulations, despite a years-old TSB recommendation to do so.
According to the report, the safety board recommended to Transport Canada in 2017 that all of the commercially operated planes be equipped with stall warning systems, but the government said it would not make that requirement.
TSB says it doesn’t agree with Transport Canada’s conclusion that even with the warning system installed, when a stall occurs the pilot has little to no time to react and recover.
The report says a warning system is one of the last lines of defence against accidental stall.
“To reduce the risk of losing control of an aircraft, the pilot must have an immediate, clear indication of an impending stall,” it says.
It added that until Transport Canada brings in new measures to address the risks of stall-related accidents, the board believes the risks from the safety deficiency remain.
Last year’s incident is one of 17 De Havilland’s stalling and crashing, which resulted in at least 38 deaths, that the TSB has investigated since 1998.
The report added that planes originally certified without stall warning systems can benefit from aftermarket systems.
“Stall warning systems can reduce the risks pilots face when flying manoeuvres at higher angles of attack, such as arrivals and departures,” the report concludes.
In addition, the report says there were no indications of medical or physiological factors affecting the pilot’s performance. It also says the pilot had already had over 10,000 flight hours at the time of the crash and underwent a competent check just the month before.
CBC News has reached out to Transport Canada for comment.