Aircraft began second spin at 4,725 feet above sea level and never recovered, says report
The altitude at which the aircraft began its spin during flight training was a huge factor in the 2023 fatal crash in Alberta, according to the Transportation Safety Board of Canada (TSB).
The incident happened on Oct. 11, 2023, when Diamond Aircraft Industries Inc.’s DA20-C1 aircraft – operated by Cooking Lake Aviation Academy Inc. (CLAA) – lost control and crashed into the surface of Beaverhill Lake.
On that day, the aircraft entered two deliberate spins as part of a training exercise. The aircraft arrived in the practice area at an altitude of 5500 feet above sea level (ASL) at 1805:22 MDT. It was at 5,725 ASL when it entered the first spin at 1805:37 MDT and recovered at 4,150 ASL at , with a loss of 1575 feet.
The aircraft then climbed back up and entered the second spin at 4,725 feet ASL at 1806:13 MDT. The aircraft remained in the spin until it collided with the surface of Beaverhill Lake.
“The successful recovery from the 1st spin indicates that the flight instructor was capable of conducting an effective spin recovery,” said the TSB. “This recovery and the post-accident medical exam suggest that there were no pre-existing physiological or medical conditions that would have prevented a recovery from the 2nd spin.”
The TSB added: “If spin training is initiated from a height that does not provide a pilot a wide enough recovery margin, there is an increased risk of collision with terrain.”
Emergency locator transmitter (ELT) malfunction
Following the incident, the Diamond DA20-C1 aircraft’s emergency locator transmitter (ELT) did not activate automatically, delaying search and rescue efforts. The TSB determined that the ELT was missing a G-switch loop wire, which prevented it from transmitting a distress signal. The wiring to the cockpit buzzer, which would have provided an alert if the ELT had been manually activated, was also found to be incorrectly installed.
Source: Transportation Safety Board of Canada (TSB)
“If emergency locator transmitters are incorrectly installed and/or tested, they may not function as designed, increasing the risk that search and rescue efforts are not timely,” said the TSB.
The aircraft was declared missing at 20:00 MDT, prompting CLAA to activate its emergency response plan. The Joint Rescue Coordination Centre (JRCC) in Trenton, Ontario, was notified an hour later and began search operations. With no ELT signal to pinpoint the crash site, search teams relied on visual scanning of the 140-square-mile training area.
The wreckage was located just after midnight on Aug. 12, 2023. First responders found the flight instructor deceased at the scene. The student pilot, who had sustained serious injuries, was airlifted to an Edmonton hospital, where he died two days later.
Safety actions following Diamond DA20-C1 aircraft incident
Following the Diamond DA20-C1 aircraft incident, CLAA revised its flight operations manual, integrating the emergency response procedures and formalizing minimum altitudes for upper-air work and spins. The new flight operations manual was approved by Transport Canada (TC) and disseminated to staff on 12 April 2024.
Diamond Aircraft Industries Inc. also issued a mandatory service bulletin (MSB), DAC1-25-05, to highlight safety issues with the DA20-C1 series aircraft and, specifically, the installation of the ARTEX ELT 1000 emergency locator transmitter (ELT) system in its aircraft.
The MSB calls for the inspection of the ELT connector wiring and, if necessary, the corrective actions needed to ensure full functionality of the ELT in the event of an accident.
Also, the company conducted a factory campaign to ensure compliance among all affected aircraft and also updated the aircraft production drawings.
Meanwhile, TC conducted a scheduled Class 1 flight instructor rating renewal flight test on the flight training unit’s Chief Flight Instructor on Sept. 15, 2023. The TC Inspector who conducted the flight test focused on the spin exercise as part of the ground and in-flight components of the flight test.
