Follows Floatplane Accident In Which Two Were Fatally Injured, Four Others Survive

Following a floatplane accident in Canada Friday which resulted in the fatal injury of the pilot and one other person on board, Bill Yearwood, spokesman for the Canadian Transportation Safety Board, says that the two who were fatally injured might have been saved if mandatory measure to prevent post-accident fires on airplanes had been put in place.

The floatplane with six people on board took off from Hesquiaht Lake in British Columbia, Canada Friday. The five passengers on the airplane were thought to be hikers going to Gold River. Shortly after takeoff, the plane's ELT activated, and the plane went down. Four of the six people on board survived the accident.

Yearwood told The Canadian Press that the other two might be alive if Transport Canada had followed the recommendations made two years ago by the Board to install fire suppression equipment on airplanes. An interview given by at least one survivor of the accident to the media indicates there was a fire on board the floatplane after the accident. Yearwood said the board "raised the safety concern" following a 2011 accident that also involved a fire, and that he had said at the time "if action wasn't taken by the minister to prevent post-crash fires, more lives would be lost, and here we go again."

The TSB said at the time that making those changes across the industry would not be simple or inexpensive, and would not be effective in reducing the number of fatal injuries.

FMI: www.tsb.gc.ca/eng, www.tc.gc.ca/eng/menu.htm