Sandy Lake – Landsdowne House – Thunder Bay

On November 23, 1983 at 12:00 AM, Sandy Lake – Landsdowne House – Thunder Bay experienced a crash involving De Havilland DHC-6 Twin Otter, operated by Austin Airways, with the event recorded near Landsdowne House Ontario.

The flight was categorized as scheduled revenue flight and the reported phase was landing (descent or approach) at a airport (less than 10 km from airport) crash site.

7 people were known to be on board, 4 fatalities were recorded, 3 survivors were identified or estimated. This corresponds to an estimated fatality rate of 57.1%.

Crew on board: 2, crew fatalities: 0, passengers on board: 5, passenger fatalities: 4, other fatalities: 0.

The listed crash cause is human factor. The Twin Otter was completing a schedule service from Sandy Lake to Thunder Bay with an intermediate stop in Landsdowne House, carrying five passengers and two pilots. On approach, the crew encountered marginal weather conditions and the captain decided to initiate a go-around procedure. A second circuit was completed without losing sight of the airfield. During the second attempt to land, the pilot-in-command reported 'runway in sight' and the copilot called for radioaltimer at 200 feet altitude. On short final, the captain reported he was encountering whiteout conditions when the airplane struck the snow-covered and icy surface of the lake about 1,200 feet short of runway threshold. Upon impact, the nose gear was torn off then the aircraft struck rocky terrain and eventually came to rest in flames about 600 feet short of runway. A passenger was seriously injured while both pilots escaped with minor injuries. Four passengers were killed in the accident.

Aircraft reference details include registration C-GTLA, MSN 632, year of manufacture 1979.