The Transportation Safety Board (TSB) of Canada has concluded its investigation into a 2019 plane crash that left seven people dead in Kingston, Ont.
Weather was a main factor in the crash that killed Texas man Otabek Oblokulov, his wife Zamira, their three children and two other Canadian passengers the night of Nov. 27, 2019.
According to the report, after leaving from Texas, the plane made a stop at the Toronto/Buttonville Municipal Airport around 4 p.m. before it left for its final destination at the Québec/Neuville Airport. Just after 5 p.m., as the plane attempted to land at the Kingston airport, it crashed in a wooded area north of Creekford Road and two kilometres west of Bayridge Drive.
Investigators believe that the plane was attempting to land in Kingston due to poor weather conditions, but communication from the pilot never expressed a sense of urgency before the plane crashed.
The TSB concluded that the weather conditions for the region between the two airports was “below the limits required for a night visual flight” at the time the plane left Toronto. Although it was light out when the plane left Toronto, cloud cover and dusk settled quickly during the flight.
The plane reportedly flew right into a low-pressure system hovering around the Great Lakes that was moving toward the plane’s flight route. Investigators say analysis of weather radar at the time showed there was precipitation at the time, low cloud ceilings in the area and reduced visibility.
The report also noted that the plane was at times flying low to the ground — just 200 feet above ground level when flying over Havelock, Ont.
Oblokulov had limited flying experience, especially at night, and no flying experience in Canadian weather, the report said. Despite checking weather reports while planning his trip to Quebec, the TSB said it’s possible he underestimated the risk of the flight.
“Given the pilot’s limited flying experience, it is likely that he did not recognize the hazards associated with the night visual flight rules flight into poor weather conditions,” the TSB concluded.
Finally, the board’s report noted that at the very last minute, when the plane was descending to land at the Kingston airport, it made a sharp turn away from it.
Investigators say there’s no guaranteed answer as to why the plane turned at the last minute, but they have a good guess.
“It is likely that while maneuvering for landing and attempting to locate the airport visually in the poor weather conditions, the aircraft entered a cloud or area of reduced visibility and the pilot lost visual reference to the surface. In these circumstances, it would have been difficult for the occurrence pilot to correctly interpret the aircraft’s attitude, altitude or airspeed,” the report noted.
Before the plane crashed, there was evidence of a sharp climb, and then the plane lost control and hurdled to the ground, the TSB report said.
The report highlights that the aircraft took off from Texas 200 pounds over the plane’s weight limit, and was 100 pounds over its limit when it crashed, due to fuel loss.
Finally, five of the seven occupants in the back of the plane were not wearing seatbelts when the plane crashed. Investigators do not believe the crash was survivable even with seatbelts, since the plane was destroyed, but said the passengers not wearing seatbelts were thrown from the plane on impact.
The board is not recommending any safety action following the crash.