Statuts:	Enquête Officielle
Date:	24 MAR 1986
Heure:	09:55
Type/Sous-type:	de Havilland Canada DHC-3 Otter
Compagnie:	Goose Bay Air Services
Immatriculation:	C-FAGM
Numéro de série:	400
Année de Fabrication:	1961
Heures de vol:	13258
Moteurs:	1 Pratt & Whitney R-1340
Equipage:	victimes: 1 / à bord: 1
Passagers:	victimes: 3 / à bord: 4
Total:	victimes: 4 / à bord: 5
Dégats de l'appareil:	Perte Totale
Conséquences:	Written off (damaged beyond repair)
Lieu de l'accident:	76 km (47.5 milles) N of Goose Bay, NF (Canada)
Phase de vol:	En vol (ENR)
Nature:	Charter National
Aéroport de départ:	Snegamook Lake, NF, Canada
Aéroport de destination:	Goose Bay Airport, NF (YYR/CYYR), Canada

Détails:
A wheel/ski-equipped DHC-3 Otter aircraft was on the return leg of a charter flight to Snegamook Lake to retrieve a hunting party of four, along with their hunting gear and bounty of several hundred ptarmigan. It departed Snegamook Lake at 09:15. After take-off, the engine began to run rough but improved somewhat when the power was reduced for cruising. As the aircraft was approaching Nipishish Lake, the pilot reported to company dispatch that the engine was again running rough, but he was able to maintain altitude, and he would follow the Crooked River toward Goose Bay in case a precautionary landing became necessary. Three minutes later, C-FAGM called dispatch again, advising them that he was intending to land on a large area on the Crooked River. He also indicated that there was an odour of smoke in the aircraft. The aircraft was in a nose-down, left- bank attitude, with the flaps fully extended and the skis retracted when it struck the frozen surface of the river. The Otter bounced clear of the surface, turned left came to rest in an upright position.

PROBABLE CAUSE: "The Canadian Aviation Safety Board determined that a fatigue-initiated crack in the number nine cylinder head caused the engine to run rough and lose power. While the pilot was manoeuvring for the precautionary landing in whiteout conditions, the aircraft crashed. At impact, the fuel cells ruptured, and a fire erupted which destroyed the aircraft."

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