http://www.saultstar.com/2015/02/28/tsb ... lt-landing
A landing at Sault Ste. Marie Airport that caused substantial damage to an Air Canada Jazz plane early last week is being investigated.
Flight 7795, inbound from Toronto Pearson International Airport last Tuesday, was preparing to land at about 6:30 p.m. A sudden snow squall caused the two-person flight crew on the Dash 8 to lose “all visibility,” said Don Enns, manager of Transportation Safety Board's Ontario regional office.
“It went from fairly decent visibility to zero in (a) very short period of time,” Enns told The Sault Star.
The crew was considering trying another approach when the aircraft “touched down short of the runway.”
The nose of the airplane hit a lead-in light. The flight crew, flight attendant and 15 passengers were not hurt.
TSB is an independent agency that investigates marine, pipeline, railway and aviation transportation incidents.
The flight crew was interviewed. TSB has secured the flight data and cockpit voice recorders, said Enns. A request was made for air traffic control tapes.
TSB makes recommendations if its investigators find a safety issue. Its suggestions are not legally binding. The operator being probed has “to answer as to how they're going to respond” to the recommendations, said Enns.
TSB attempts to finish its investigations within 12 months.
In mid-February, the agency released its findings about a landing of a Porter Airlines Bombardier DHC-8-402 at the city airport in May 2013.The aircraft's tail section was extensively damaged. The probe found the plane's airspeed began to decrease and “no longer met the requirements of a stabilized approach.” Another attempt was needed.
That investigation, released 21 months after the incident, “(took) a little longer than we anticipated,” said Enns.
b.kelly@sunmedia.ca
On Twitter: @Saultreporter