Water bomber crashes in NB

[r22captain]

http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/canada ... 26599.html

MIRAMICHI, N.B. - A spokesman for Forest Protection Ltd. says a water bomber crashed Friday in Miramichi, N.B.

Managing director David Davies says the plane crashed after 2 p.m.

No other details were immediately available.

[Brewguy]

Not much more info, but it looks like it was an Avenger...

Water bomber crashes in New Brunswick
21 minutes ago

By The Canadian Press

MIRAMICHI, N.B. - A spokesman for Forest Protection Ltd. says a water bomber crashed shortly after taking off today in Miramichi, N.B.

Managing director David Davies says the plane crashed just before 2 p.m., but he had no information on what might have caused the plane to go down.

Davies says only the pilot was on board, but didn't release details about the pilot's status.

He says the pilot is experienced and was conducting a practice flight on the TBM Avenger aircraft.

He says the accident will be investigated by the Transportation Safety Board of Canada.

Forest Protection is a joint government-industry company that does aerial fire protection, insect control and herbicide programs.

Copyright © 2010 Canadian Press

[YCL Boy]

N.B. water bomber crash kills pilot
Last Updated: Friday, April 23, 2010 | 5:47 PM AT Comments1Recommend9
CBC News

The pilot of a water bomber died in a crash near Miramichi, N.B., on Friday, police say.

The water bomber operated by Forest Protection Ltd. crashed after takeoff from the company's Miramichi base at Miramichi Airport just before 2 p.m., according to a company spokesman.

Miramichi police Deputy Chief Paul Fiander said the pilot died in the crash.

A witness told a CBC reporter the plane took off and did a small tour around the area before it seemed to stall and start to go down. The witness said it looked as if the pilot pointed the plane to ensure it would miss workers at a nearby peat moss plant as the plane went down.

Company managing director David Davis told The Canadian Press only a pilot was on board the TBM Avenger aircraft. It was conducting a practice flight at the time of the crash.

Transport Canada investigators are on their way from Halifax and will begin their investigation in the morning.

Forest Protection Limited is a private company owned by New Brunswick forest stakeholders, including the province of New Brunswick, J.D. Irving and Fraser papers among others, according to their website. Since 1952, the company has provided forest protection services ranging from fire and pest management to aerial surveys.

Read more: http://www.cbc.ca/canada/new-brunswick/ ... z0lxXm4psa

[North Shore]

Oh, no. Sad way to start off the season. My condolences.

[YCL Boy]

Sad News.
Update: Pilot was Ron Clowes.


N.B. water bomber crash kills pilot
Last Updated: Friday, April 23, 2010 | 9:45 PM AT Comments32Recommend36
CBC News

The pilot of a water bomber died in a crash near Miramichi, N.B., on Friday.

The water bomber, operated by Forest Protection Ltd., crashed shortly after taking off from Miramichi Airport just before 2 p.m. AT, according to a company spokesman.

Miramichi police deputy chief Paul Fiander confirmed the pilot, Ron Clowes, died in the crash.

He was a 62-year-old experienced pilot from Grand Falls, N.B., with more than 13,000 hours of flying time, said police Sgt. Brian Cumming. He had worked for Forest Protection for 10 years.

A witness told a CBC reporter the plane took off and did a small tour around the area before it seemed to stall and start to go down. The witness said it looked as if the he pointed the plane to ensure it would miss workers at a nearby peat moss plant when it went down.

Company managing director David Davis told The Canadian Press only the pilot was on board the TBM Avenger aircraft. It was conducting a practice flight at the time of the crash.

Transportation Safety Board of Canada investigators were on their way from Halifax and will begin their investigation Saturday morning.

Forest Protection is owned by the province and several companies involved in the forestry industry, including J.D. Irving, Fraser Papers, Weyerhaeuser, Acadian Timber and others, according to the company website.

Since 1952, the company has provided forest protection services ranging from fire and pest management to aerial surveys.

Read more: http://www.cbc.ca/canada/new-brunswick/ ... z0lyeu2WPH

[Krashman]

My condolences to all family and friends...

[Trevor]

My condolenses as well. I met Ron during my FPL visit back in 2002. Clear skies forever.

[Rotten Apple #1]

Ah geez. Ronnie. Was thinking a few months ago about how great it would be to run into him again some day. Funny guy. Damn shame.

John

[North Shore]

Small comfort to his family and friends, but it sounds like he was a professional to the end: The witness said it looked as if the he pointed the plane to ensure it would miss workers at a nearby peat moss plant when it went down

[mdscientist61]

Ronnie was one of my instructors way-back-when.

Condolences to all who knew him. Sad day. He will be missed.

[Caracrane]

Very sad to hear about what happened yesterday. Rest in Peace Mr.Clowes. Eric

[flyinthebug]

I just saw this on the news this morning. My sincere condolences to Mr. Clowes family and friends. Like North Shore said, what a sad start to the season. RIP Sir.

[Cougar]

This is terribly sad news for the start of the season..

Sincere condolences to his family, friends, and all of you who knew him.

Respectfully..

[sanjet]

My condolences to his family and friends. Very sad.
Does anyone know if these aircraft are equipped with FDR/CVR's?

[Tiger Lead]

Ronnie was a very experienced pilot and a great guy. Lots of laugths and always in a good mood. Will be missed by all. To the rest of the specility flyers be carefull this summer. No fire is worthy of your life.

[Widow]

My deepest sympathies to all reeling with the loss of Mr. Clowes. May you soon find peace.

[pelmet]

http://tsb.gc.ca/eng/rapports-reports/a ... 0a0041.asp

Findings as to Causes and Contributing Factors
1.The pilot's underlying coronary disease was not identified despite the defences built into the Civil Aviation Medicine system.
2.The aircraft departed controlled flight and impacted terrain because the pilot suffered a heart attack.

Findings as to Risk
1.A lack of awareness amongst Canadian general practitioners of the requirement to report medical conditions that may affect flight safety may result in Transport Canada (TC ) not having all the information required to accurately determine a pilot's fitness for flight.
2.Non-disclosure of medical symptoms/conditions to a Civil Aviation Medical Examiner (CAME) negates the safety benefits of the examination and increases the risk that a pilot will fly with a medical condition that poses a risk to safety.
3.TC guidelines for CAMEs do not adequately assess and document all cardiovascular risk factors in pilots, thereby increasing the probability that these risks will go undetected.
4.When pilots do not wear their safety harness, they are at greater risk of injury during the operation of the aircraft.

Other Finding
1.The ELT became disconnected from its antenna during the impact sequence; as a result no ELT signal was received.