WINNIPEG – The Transportation Safety Board of Canada says inadvertent movement of fuel levers led to a forced landing of a North Star Air flight in June 2019 on Eabamet Lake in Ontario’s Far North.
The report, released on Monday, said the pilot of a Douglas DC-3C Basler Turbo Conversions TP67 was travelling from Fort Hope Airport to Pickle Lake Airport on June 21, 2019 when shortly after takeoff the engines lost power simultaneously.
The plane touched down in the water and the crew swam to shore, leaving the heavily damaged aircraft via the main cabin door.
No one was injured in the incident.
The report suggests the captain’s left hand, which was on or near the throttle quadrant, may have accidentally moved the fuel condition levers to the stop position, cutting the fuel to both engines at the same time. Because the incident took place shortly after takeoff and at low altitude, there wasn’t time for the crew to rectify the error.
The crew was also using a pre-flight checklist that did not include a revision of the airplane flight manual supplement that specifies setting the ignition switches to continuous mode for takeoff.
The reports says the crew also did not arm the automatic feathering system, which quickly reduces the drag of a failed engine.
