April 5, 2011 – Running out of fuel was not the cause of the fatal plane crash in Saskatoon on Friday, an official with the Transportation Safety Board says.
Much information remains to be collected as the investigation continues, but there was fuel in the tank when the two-engine propeller plane crashed into a barrier next to a residential neighbourhood, TSB regional manager Peter Hildebrand told CBC News.
The remaining fuel was later pumped out of the wreckage of the plane, a Casa C-212.
The crash killed Laroslav Gorokhovski, 47, of Embrun, Ont.
Gorokhovski, an airborne survey electronics technician, is survived by a wife and two children, according to a news release from his employer, Fugro Airborne Surveys.
Surviving the crash were the pilot and co-pilot, ages 41 and 57 respectively, who are expected to be key to figuring exactly what happened.
The aircraft did not have a flight data recorder — the so-called black box — nor a cockpit voice recorder. The plane wasn't required to have either device.
Long investigation expected
The pilots, whom the company identified as Brock Gorrell and Cameron Sutcliffe, are being fully debriefed, Hildebrand said.
"What were the signs that the crew would have noted? What was the aircraft telling them?" Hildebrand said. "In other words, what was happening?"
Terry McConnell, Managing Director
of Fugro Airborne Surveys,
recounts what his pilots relayed
to him about the crash on April 1.
Clip courtesy of CBC Radio
Fugro Airborne Surveys said the crew was doing geological survey work near Saskatoon when it reported that one of its engines had failed.
The crew was originally going to attempt a landing at Saskatoon's airport, but instead slammed into the ground on Wanuskewin Road, also known as Wanuskewin Drive, in the northeast part of the city.
Skies were clear at the time of the crash, which happened shortly after 6:30 p.m. CST.
A lengthy investigation is expected. The only thing investigators know for certain at this point is the plane did not run out of fuel, Hildebrand said.
