AVCANADA

Plane Carrying Viruses Crashes in Canada
Oct 06 6:57 PM US/Eastern


WINNIPEG, Manitoba

A cargo plane carrying small amounts of flu virus crashed on railway tracks near Winnipeg's city center Thursday, killing the pilot but missing buildings and vehicles, authorities said.

The research samples of frozen influenza and herpes viruses were destroyed in the crash and ensuing fire along with other freight, Federal Express spokeswoman Karen Cooper said.

She said the Cessna 208 was owned by Morningstar Air Express of Edmonton and was under contract to FedEx.

Morningstar spokesman Don Boettcher didn't immediately identify the woman piloting the aircraft. "She'd been with us for about five years," he said, without providing further details.

The plane took off from the Winnipeg airport en route to Thunder Bay, Ontario, at about 5:45 a.m. and traveled about four miles southeast of the airport before it requested a return, Transportation Safety Board investigator David Ross said.

"The aircraft then descended below radar coverage and contact was lost with the aircraft," Ross said.

"It has crashed on railway tracks and does not appear to have collided with any other objects, houses or cars," police Sgt. Shelly Glover said.

Winnipeg police spokeswoman Carolyn Kwiatek said there was no damage to the surrounding area from the fire. The crash did tie up traffic on nearby streets during the morning rush, but no accidents or injuries resulted.

In its cargo were six vials of virus samples being sent to Thunder Bay for research, Cooper said.

Although the samples were labeled dangerous goods, they weren't considered hazardous at the crash site since all the cargo was destroyed in the blaze, Cooper said.

Police Sgt. Kelly Dennison said weather may have been a factor. Reports suggested light snow and mist in the area, temperatures near the freezing mark, moderate winds and about four miles of visibility.

Ross said the plane probably wasn't carrying a flight data recorder.

...It hits home when you spend the day thinking of someone you have never met....

Pilot Hailed as Hero
I'm proud of her: sister-in-law

A pilot killed in a dramatic plane crash outside Osborne Village died doing what she loved, her sister-in-law said yesterday.

"She wanted to fly, and that was the best job she could ever have," said Anna Chase last night from her Geary, N.B., home.

Nancy Chase Allan, 49, of Moncton, died early yesterday morning after her single engine Cessna 208B crashed on a railway track.

Mother of two

Chase Allan, a five-year veteran of Morningstar Air Express, used to live in Winnipeg, where she was an instructor at Perimeter Aviation.

Allan said Chase Allan, a divorced mother of two grown children, had been flying for about seven years after spending nearly 20 years working as a legal secretary.

"I guess she has always had a love of wanting to fly and she finally got gutsy enough to quit her job and took it upon herself to take her training," Allan said. "I'm very proud of her."

The Cessna was owned by Morningstar and contracted by Federal Express. Flags at FedEx's Sargent Avenue office were flying at half-staff yesterday. Don Boettcher, Morningstar's director of operations, said the airline will help grieving family members however it can and make sure they have access to required counselling resources.

He hailed Chase Allan as a hero for narrowly avoiding nearby roadways, homes and businesses during her troubled descent.

"I would say that's extremely commendable on her part," said Boettcher. "From the time she came out of the cloud layer ... to when she landed, she wouldn't have had much time.

"But, like all pilots, she would have wanted to avoid areas where there would be people. That's a natural instinct for most pilots, to spare as many lives as possible."

Chase said her sister-in-law would have done anything to avoid hurting anyone else.

"If there was any possible way she would have done that," Chase said. "It's one thing losing her own life, but she would never have wanted to hurt anyone else."

When Chase Allan wasn't flying she was selling real estate in Moncton, Chase said.

For the past several months, Chase Alan drove two hours every weekend to be with her ailing mother in Geary, N.B., Allan said.

"She would be there every Saturday by 11 in the morning. Her mom could set her watch by it. That was her day to be with her mom. "She was a beautiful person."

Plane involved in crash proves vulnerable to icing problems
Friday, October 7th, 2005
By: Leah Janzen

Aviation regulators around the world — including in Canada — recently implemented more stringent safety rules for Cessna Caravan aircraft after a review of accidents found the planes are more vulnerable to icing problems that can cause them to crash.

It was a Cessna Caravan 208B cargo plane that spiraled out of control early yesterday morning and crashed on the CN train tracks behind the Masonic Temple at Confusion Corner. The lone pilot, Nancy Chase-Allan, 49, was killed in the incident.

Radio communication between the pilot and air traffic controllers indicate the plane had become iced up in the moments before the crash.

There were 26 icing-related incidents involving Cessna Caravans between 1987 and 2003 in the United States. A Transport Canada spokeswoman said there have been six such incidents in Canada in the last 10 years.

Earlier this year, the Federal Aviation Administration in the United States issued an airworthiness directive instructing all pilots flying Cessna Caravan aircraft they must now make a “hands-on” check of the wing before take-off when icing is possible. The directive is typically issued from the country that certifies the plane, but once issued, is adopted by international agreement by other countries. As a result, Canadian pilots are also bound by the new rule.

Prior to the directive, pilots needed only to visually check for icing on the plane’s wings prior to take-off.

As of March, 29, pilots must now run their hands along the wing edge and surface as well as along the tail and propeller blades. Those checks must be done when temperatures fall below 5 C and there is visible moisture.

Investigators are not yet sure whether Chase-Allan conducted such an inspection before take off. Dan Boettcher, a spokesman for Morningstar Air Express, which operates the plane, said yesterday he did not believe Chase-Allan put the plane through a complete de-icing prior to leaving Winnipeg.

“From what I’ve heard, she did not de-ice the plane prior to take-off.”

A paper-thin layer of frost can cause a plane to lose lift. The speed a plane must maintain to avoid stalling is 35 per cent higher with frost than without.

When a plane stalls, its engines continue to run, but there isn’t enough airflow over the wing to generate the lift needed to keep the plane flying.

The plane drops and the pilot loses the ability to navigate it.

Canadian regulations prohibit pilots from taking off with any ice, frost or snow on critical surfaces such as wings. It is up to the pilot or maintenance crew to determine if de-icing fluid should be sprayed on the wings and propellers.

Transport Canada spokeswoman Lucie Vignola said yesterday there have been a handful of icing incidents involving Cessna Caravans in Canada in the last decade. She said Canada has implemented the new airworthiness directive from the FAA.

There are 54 Cessna Caravans in operation in Canada.

Last year, the National Transportation Safety Board in the United States issued an alert to all pilots, warning them the ice crystals as tiny as grains of salt scattered on a wing can be dangerous. Citing 26 U.S. crashes which resulted in 36 deaths, the NTSB in the states said they caused concern about “a possible systemic problem with the airplane’s design or operation.”

An American lawsuit is still pending in which the plaintiffs claim Cessna knew of a defect that made their Caravans especially vulnerable to ice. The claim has not yet been heard in court.

Additional safety directives pertaining to the Cessna Caravan are in the planning stages in the United States and may be implemented in the coming months. The new directive may compel the installation of de-icing boots on all Cessna Caravan landing gear.

According to international agreement, Canada would adopt the new rules if they are passed by the FAA.