Company Has Had Two Fatal Accidents In Only Five
Months
ANN has learned that
the PA46 that went down, killing five on Friday, may have been
experiencing some mode of gyro problems prior to an inflight
breakup. A Transport Canada CADORS incident report on Friday's
downing of a Piper PA-46 in Alberta, Canada, sheds new light
on the unfortunate accident.
According to that report, a controller in Edmonton observed the
aircraft moving erratically as it flew on course to Winnipeg. When
that controller made contact with the aircraft, the pilot reported
a problem with a gyro.
Soon after, the aircraft was observed in a rapid descent, and
the controller lost contact with the aircraft.
The incident report identifies the aircraft as a PA-46-350P, a
Jetprop-converted Malibu (photo below), fitted with a Pratt &
Whitney Canada PT-6 turboprop.
Transport Canada Report
A corporate Piper PA-46 Turbo Malibu with 5 people on
board, was en route IFR from Edmonton City Centre Airport to
Winnipeg and northeast of Wainwright at FL 270 when the Edmonton
ACC Sector Controller observed the aircraft moving erratically. The
Controller queried the pilot who reported a problem with a gyro.
The aircraft was then observed in a rapid descent and YEG ACC lost
contact with the aircraft. Lloydminster FSS subsequently heard an
ELT signal. Two investigators from the Edmonton TSB and local RCMP
members are en route to the last known location of the aircraft in
the vicinity of the town of Paradise Valley.
Canada's TSB spokesman, John Cottreau, told Canadian
media that, "There are some pieces strewn over a
three-kilometre-long debris field and they're looking for those
pieces... They're going to pull together all the pieces that
they can recover (and) they're going to bring them to our office in
Edmonton, where they're going to do a more detailed examination to
focus on what might have initiated the event that led to the
in-flight breakup."
According to CanWest News Service, five people were onboard the
aircraft en route from Edmonton to Winnipeg. The aircraft departed
City Centre Airport in Edmonton at 0738 local time Friday morning
on an easterly heading, and disappeared from radar at about 0812. A
Royal Canadian Mounted Police team discovered a piece of wreckage,
and a search crew landed at the site of the accident at 1200 local
time.
The aircraft was owned by A.D Williams Engineering, an
engineering company with interests in northern diamond mines. Of
those onboard the Malibu who died in Friday's accident, three were
staff members with the company -- A.D Williams president Reagan
Williams, and executives Rhonda Quirke and Phil Allard. Allard was
appointed CFO in January, filling a post left vacant after his
predecessor, Steven Sutton, was killed in a plane crash five months
ago. That accident also claimed the life of company
founder Allen Williams, who was Reagan Williams' father.
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