Faulty alarm distracted pilot in 2023 RCMP plane crash in Whitehorse, investigators find

CBC News

· Posted: Jun 03, 2025 5:01 PM EDT | Last Updated: 29 minutes ago

An instrumentality failure led to a clang involving an RCMP level astatine the Whitehorse airdrome 2 years agone that earnestly injured 1 person, investigators person found.

In a study released connected Tuesday, the Transportation Safety Board (TSB) says a failed sensor successful the Pilatus PC-12 craft triggered a mendacious stall awesome and alarm, distracting the aviator and apt resulting successful a failed landing attempt.

The level was wholly wrecked successful the clang and the aviator — the lone idiosyncratic connected board, and identified earlier by RCMP arsenic a peculiar constable with the force — was earnestly injured. 

The incidental happened connected April 17, 2023, arsenic the aviator attempted to instrumentality disconnected from the Whitehorse airdrome en way to Yellowknife. The level had conscionable delivered 2 different RCMP members to Whitehorse and the aviator was departing to return to Yellowknife.  

The study describes however soon aft lift-off, the "continuous aural 'STALL' warning" was activated, prompting the aviator to crook astir and effort to onshore backmost astatine the airport. Investigators recovered that the informing was triggered successful error, owed to a faulty sensor — thing the aviator was unaware of astatine the time. 

The study says the pilot's archetypal effort to onshore was unsuccessful and truthful they turned the level to effort again from a antithetic angle.

"At the aforesaid time, the aviator was besides becoming progressively acrophobic by the continuous aural stall informing and started to judge that determination whitethorn beryllium thing earnestly incorrect with the aircraft," the study reads.

The clang happened arsenic the aviator attempted to enactment up with the runway. The craft made a abrupt "descending close turn," and its helping deed the ground. The different helping past besides deed a millings heap alongside the runway and was torn off. The level rolled implicit and slid astir 40 metres earlier stopping connected an airdrome work road.

The aviator suffered a caput wounded but managed to escape the wreckage with assistance from exigency responders. They were admitted to infirmary and released the adjacent day, the study says.

Investigators found that the stall system's aural informing stayed connected until the crash, and "thus it created a distraction and accrued aviator workload" arsenic the aviator tried to absorption connected flying the plane.

"While attempting to align the craft for landing, the aviator experienced attentional narrowing owed to an aggravated accent absorption successful effect to the continuous stall warning. As a result, the pilot's attraction was focused extracurricular the aircraft," it reads.

The accent and distraction meant the aviator past "unknowingly placed the craft successful a formation authorities that apt resulted in an aerodynamic stall astatine a precise debased tallness supra ground," starring to the crash. 

The TSB found that the aviator was unaware the craft had an inhibit power to temporarily mute the audible informing signal. It could person been used, "to rapidly destruct the mendacious aural stall informing that was a distraction for the duration of the flight." It says the PC-12 aviator operating handbook provided "limited guidance" astir the usage of that inhibit switch.

The committee says RCMP have since enhanced exigency grooming and procedures for pilots of PC-12 craft and besides reviewed its fleet and consulted the craft shaper astir caller sensors.