The Transportation Safety Board is making two preliminary recommendations in to the West Wind Aviation plane crash in Fond Du Lac December 13, 2017, which left one person dead and 24 others injured.
Kathy Fox, Chair of the TSB says remote and northern airports need adequate de-icing equipment.
The investigation found “neither of the available ladders was high enough to permit an inspection or de-icing of the ATR 42 wing or horizontal stabilizer. The West Wind de-icing equipment was a hand-held spray system with a small-capacity heated fluid reservoir, and a 20 L container of additional Type I fluid. Another air operator also had a small, heated hand-held spray system in the terminal building. These systems, even if combined, had insufficient fluid capacity to de‑ice an ATR 42.”
Investigators found that no anti-icing equipment was available at the Fond Du Lac airport and that the crew of the aircraft did not use the available ladders and de-icing equipment.
Fox is recommending that there is greater enforcement of regulations of contaminants on critical aircraft surfaces as a further preventable measure.
“At my direction, Transport Canada is conducting a thorough review of the two recommendations made today and will provide a formal response to the Board within the required 90-day period. Given the seriousness of the issue, I took immediate action and I have instructed the department to look at the de-icing situation on an urgent basis,” said Transport Minister Marc Garneau said in a statement.
The TSB says the crash is still under investigation and will now move into the report stage.
(PHOTO: Photo of the wreckage. Courtesy the Transportation Safety Board.)