Liard Air

De Havilland DHC-6 Twin Otter

At approximately 1235 Pacific daylight time, the Liard Air Limited de Havilland DHC-6-100 Twin Otter (registration C-FAWC, serial number 108) was taking off from a gravel airstrip near the Northern Rockies Lodge at Muncho Lake on a visual flight rules flight to Prince George, British Columbia. After becoming airborne, the aircraft entered a right turn and the right outboard flap hanger contacted the Alaska Highway. The aircraft subsequently struck a telephone pole and a telephone cable, impacted the edge of the highway a second time, and crashed onto a rocky embankment adjacent to a dry creek channel. The aircraft came to rest upright approximately 600 feet from the departure end of the airstrip. An intense post-impact fire ensued and the aircraft was destroyed. One passenger suffered fatal burn injuries, one pilot was seriously burned, the other pilot sustained serious impact injuries, and the other two passengers received minor injuries.