2021 Westlock plane crash result of 'unstable' landing approach, injuries made worse by safety violations: TSB

A Daher TBM700 N carrying a pilot and three passengers crashed on Oct. 10, 2021, at the Westlock Airport. (Photo provided by the Transportation Safety Board.)

A 2021 plane crash at the Westlock Airport was caused by an "unstable visual approach" to the landing runway, a Transportation Safety Board investigator has found. 

Four people were injured when the Daher TBM700 N flipped on Oct. 10, including the pilot who sustained serious head trauma. A dog was also killed in the crash. 

In a report published on Wednesday, TSB investigator Mike Adam concluded the pilot approached the runway at a steep angle and continually decelerated, resulting in an unstable approach to landing. 

"On short final, the pilot reduced the rate of descent by increasing pitch rather than by adding power. As a result, the airspeed continued to decrease and the aircraft entered a stall, resulting in a hard landing and a subsequent bounce," Adam wrote. 

"During the attempted rejected landing, the aircraft entered a 25-degree nose-high attitude and approached a stall condition. This low-speed condition combined with the high power setting resulted in the aircraft entering a rapid roll to the left and striking the runway in an inverted attitude." 

He noted the pilot, whose injuries were described as life changing, was not wearing his shoulder harness and hit his head on the ceiling and pilot door frame. He was trapped in the aircraft for two hours until first responders could extricate him. 

One of the passengers was injured because- she also was not restrained by a shoulder harness and was hit by items that were unsecured within the craft. 

The pilot had flown from Vernon, B.C., and picked up his passengers at the Springbank Airport outside of Calgary.