Cracked wing assembly blamed for float plane crash that killed 3

A crack in the wing assembly caused a float planeto break up while in flight and crash near Little Grand Rapids in 2019, theTransportation Safety Board of Canada says.

The pilot and two passengers died in the Oct. 26 crash. It took several days for an RCMP dive team to find the bodies of the three men a 42-year-old passenger, 49-year-old passenger and the 39-year-old pilot.

Police have not named any of the men but the owners of Blue Water Aviation, which owned the plane,identified the pilot as Jonathan Friesen.

The TSB report, released Wednesday, says a fatigue fracture had developed in one of the upper right wing lift strut assemblies of thede Havilland DHC-3 Otter aircraft.

The plane left Bissett Water Aerodrome around 7:45 a.m. on a flight to Little Grand Rapids with the three men and about363 kilograms (800pounds) of freight.

While on approach to land on Family Lake about an hour later, the aircraft's rightwing separated from the fuselage, the report says.

The plane went into a nose dive,hit the water and was destroyed by the impact.

It was later determined that the required visual inspections, as prescribed by maintenance manuals, did not identify the types of cracks that could form in the wing lift strut attachment fittings, the report says.

Following the crash, the TSB issued an advisory, requesting Transport Canada work with Viking Air (the company holding certificates for the former de Havilland company'sDHC-3 model)to revise themaintenance manuals. Transport Canada thenissued directive requiring enhanced inspections of DHC-3 wing lift strut assemblies.

Little Grand Rapids is about270 kilometres northeast of Winnipeg.