Pilot in December plane crash didn't meet flight requirements, aircraft wasn't insured

A Transportation Safety Board (TSB) investigation into a near-fatal plane crash last December found the pilot did not meet the requirements to fly a passenger at night, and the aircraft didn't have valid insurance.

The single-engine two-seater aircraft crashed the evening of Dec. 5 outside a service station in Bainsville, Ont. The airplane hit hydro wires in its descent and crashed on a grassy median of the 401, according to an air transportation safety investigation report.

The flight was going from Salaberry-de-Valleyfield Aerodrome in Quebec to the Cornwall Regional Aerodrome. The crash happened about 125 kilometres southeast of Ottawa.

The two occupants of a 1967 Cessna 150 plane were rushed to hospital in critical and life-threatening condition.

• Plane crashes onto Highway 401 median, badly injuring 2 people

Passenger information

The pilot had obtained his glider licence in 2014, and his commercial pilot licence in July 2022. According to the investigation, he was in the process of getting a flight instructor rating.

The passenger was the owner of the plane but did not have a pilot's licence.

A two-seater plane crashed onto a Highway 401 median in Bainsville, Ont.

2 years ago

Duration 0:35

Ontario Provincial Police say a two-seater Cessna 150 crashed on the median of Highway 401 outside the Bainsville ONroute on Dec. 5, 2022. (Photo: Claudine Richard/Radio-Canada)

Records indicate the pilot had completed five night takeoffs and five night landings within the last six months in a multi-engine airplane, but not in the class of plane involved in the crash.

As a result, he did not meet the Canadian Aviation Regulations recency requirements to carry a passenger at night in the aircraft.

The investigation also found the aircraft's insurance had expired more than two months before the crash.

Although there were communications indicating that all required maintenance for the annual inspection had been done, no records were made available to suggest that an annual inspection was completed, which is required to meet flight standards.

The cause of the crash

While the cause of the crash was inconclusive, investigators suspect there was a potential for serious carburetor icing in the engine.

The carburetor measures the amount of incoming intake air and meters out the proper fuel to air ratio in the cylinder intakes. Under the right conditions, water vapour in the air freezes and adheres to internal surfaces of the carburetor. 

Unchecked, the ice can quickly lead to a complete engine failure.