Too low flying altitude possible factor in plane crash: TSB

Investigators are trying to determine whether the plane that crashed off B.C.'s Sunshine Coast Sunday, killing seven people, was flying below the required minimum altitude, the Transportation Safety Board said Wednesday.

The Pacific Coastal Airlines flight had been cleared to depart the Vancouver airport despite increasing cloud and bad weather under special visual flight rules, TSB spokesman Bill Yearwood said.

Peter McLeod, a veteran pilot, was allowed to fly with less visibility than normal but had to keep the Grumman Goose amphibious plane above 300 feet (roughly 91 metres).

The crash site is at about 354 feet (around 108 metres), but investigators determined that the plane was climbing from a lower altitude when it crashed into the side of a mountain on Thormanby Island, Yearwood said.

"We have to interview people and look at what the norms are and look at what may be different in this occurence," he told CBC News.

'I'm sure he was fighting ceiling and visibility to a degree, but I don't know to what level.' Spencer Smith, Pacific Coastal Airlines

The plane was carrying construction workers to a remote hydroelectric project in the Toba Valley being built for Plutonic Power. McLeod and six of his passengers died when the plane crashed and burst into flames. Tom Wilson is the lone survivor and is recovering from burns at a Vancouver hospital.

The plane left Vancouver International Airport at about 10 a.m. PT Sunday and went down within about 20 minutesof takeoff.

Yearwood said the pilot was heading off course when he flew into the summit of Thormanby Island.

"We have to ask the question, 'Why is he pointing this way?' because that's where he's going," Yearwood said of the direction in which McLeod was piloting the plane before the crash.

Investigators said the plane seemed to be gently climbing and not pulling up before the crash.

Trail of debris visible at crash site

Spencer Smith, vice-president of the family-run Pacific Coastal Airlines, admittedMcLeod didn't seem to be reacting to an emergency.

"It's really stumping us because this would be a standard slow climb," Smith said Wednesday. "I'm sure he was fighting ceiling and visibility to a degree, but I don't know to what level. That's the most frustrating thing about all this trying to learn what took place."

Investigators gathered training and maintenance records from the airline's Richmond office Wednesday to help with their probe, Yearwood said.

Five of the passengers who died were employees of the Kiewit construction company: Kyle Adams, Jerry Burns, Ajay Cariappa, Wally Klemens and Matt Sawchenko. The sixth passenger was Tom Orgar, an employee of Finning Tractor in Surrey. Their bodies had been removed for autopsy.

Wilson, who survived the crash, is recovering from burnsat Vancouver General Hospital. Despite being injuredWilson, walked several kilometres down the mountain from the crash site to a beach, where he was spotted by rescuers.

Although investigators have gathered pieces of the wreckage, they need to try to findout what happened. A trail of crash debris is still visible, according to CBC reporter Susana da Silva, who hiked for an hour along the route believed to be taken by Wilson.

She said the site shows how violent the crash was and how intense the fire was afterward.

"There are even spots that are still smoldering in the twisted metal and stark reminders that seven men lost their lives here, and somehow, one incredibly walked away," da Silva said.

"You can see the flight path by the damage to the tops of the trees. below me is one of the wings, and that's the beginning of the debris field that continues for another 200 metres before the fuselage finally came to a stop."