La Ronge – Deschambeault Lake

On February 4, 2009 at 09:15 AM, La Ronge – Deschambeault Lake experienced a crash involving De Havilland DHC-6 Twin Otter, operated by Transwest Air, with the event recorded near La Ronge Saskatchewan.

The flight was categorized as charter/taxi (non scheduled revenue flight) and the reported phase was takeoff (climb) at a airport (less than 10 km from airport) crash site.

7 people were known to be on board, 0 fatalities were recorded, 7 survivors were identified or estimated. This corresponds to an estimated fatality rate of 0.0%.

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

The listed crash cause is human factor. The aircraft was taking off from a ski strip east of and parallel to Runway 36 at La Ronge. After the nose ski cleared the snow, the left wing rose and the aircraft veered to the right and the captain, who was the pilot flying, continued the take-off. The right ski, however, was still in contact with the snow. The aircraft became airborne briefly as it cleared a deep gully to the right of the runway. The aircraft remained in a steep right bank and the right wing contacted the snow-covered ground. The aircraft flew through a chain link fence and crashed into trees surrounding the airport. The five passengers and two crewmembers evacuated the aircraft with minor injuries. There was a small fire near the right engine exhaust that was immediately extinguished by the crew.

Aircraft reference details include registration C-FCCE, MSN 8, year of manufacture 1966.

Geospatial coordinates for this crash are approximately 55.0993°, -105.2958°.