Air Tanker Crash

[CLguy]

http://fireaviation.com/tag/canada/

Glad to hear no one was seriously injured.

[North Shore]

^Indeed.

[Heliian]

I hope it wasn't on porpoise.

What a terrible little floatplane, WHY do they keep flogging them on canoes????

[C-FABH]

A14P0132: An Air Tractor 802 on amphibious floats, C-GXNX, was carrying out wild fire fighting operations off of Chantslar Lake, BC along with 3 other aircraft of the same model. C-GXNX was second in the formation on a touch-and-go to pick up water. Upon lift-off, a control issue occurred and the aircraft struck the water, crashed and subsequently sank. The pilot was wearing a helmet, a personal floatation device (PFD) and a 4-point safety harness. The pilot received minor injuries, self-egressed the aircraft and inflated the PFD. The third aircraft in the formation exercised the precaution of dumping its water load and manoeuvring to stay clear of any contact with the accident aircraft as it continued its take-off. The fourth aircraft also dumped its water load but rejected the take-off and taxied to pick up the pilot in the water. The accident pilot was transferred to a helicopter working in the area and taken to hospital for assessment.

[Cat Driver]

C-GXNX, was carrying out wild fire fighting operations

I get a woody whenever I read they are wild fires.....when I was in the business they were called forest fires or brush fires or grass fires........

The third aircraft in the formation exercised the precaution of dumping its water load and manoeuvring to stay clear of any contact with the accident aircraft as it continued its take-off. The fourth aircraft also dumped its water load but rejected the take-off and taxied to pick up the pilot in the water. The accident pilot was transferred to a helicopter working in the area and taken to hospital for assessment.

How do they dump their loads while on the water still on the step?

[Just Duckie]

The water is stored in the hopper.

[Cat Driver]

Thanks, of course it is a Ag plane....

[imarai]

To quote Heliian "...terrible little floatplane" ?

AT802F has a take-off weight of 16,000 lbs. It is powered by a 1,600 shp turboprop. What kind of little floatplane do you fly?

[Cat Driver]

With that weight to HP it should be a fairly good performer.

[Heliian]

Yes, it has lots of power and I don't really doubt it's usefulness but most landings look like it's trying to hump the water, it porpoises like nothing else I have ever seen.

[xsbank]

Anybody found out yet why the loss of control? Conair is keeping this pretty quiet.

[Cat Driver]

And how about that Newfie 415 that was wrecked a few years ago, where was the gear when it touched down?

[Waldo Peppar]

Cat Driver-
The gear was up.....report should be public now...if not, then very soon.

[xsbank]

Sooo, any word on why this a/c just thundered in? Mechanical defect? Fatigue? Microburst? Sooner or later somebody might figure it out?

[rigpiggy]

the newly 415 seemed to have an open drop door, wasn't covered by sop, or checklist. Wonder if they are still trying to sewer the crew

[CLguy]

Rig there was no open drop door on the NFLD 415. All 4 were closed.