Plane veered off northern Manitoba runway because of oil leak, flight crew decision, investigators say
Perimeter Airlines plane 'substantially damaged' after crew lost propeller control during Thompson landing
An oil leak and the decision by flight crew to land with both engines running contributed to a plane veering off a runway after landing at a northern airstrip a year ago, the Transportation Safety Board says.
A 19-seat Perimeter Airlines flight from God's River to Thompson landed and then careened off the runway on Nov. 2, 2017, after losing pressure during the 300-kilometre trip, a TSB report says.
No passengers were on the 19-seat Fairchild Metro III.
The two crew members consulted air traffic control after noticing a low oil pressure alert associated with the left engine, investigators say.
The crew considered landing without nose-wheel steering and just one of two engines firing, but decided to keep them both running due to perceived risks.
That decision was at odds with protocol, investigators said.
"The decision to continue the flight with both engines running was not consistent with the quick reference handbook procedures for low oil pressure indications," the TSB report says. The low oil pressure alert was probably the result of a "steady oil leak" in the left engine.
The two crew members suffered minor injuries and the plane was "substantially damaged."
Investigators say the plane also was fitted with a flight management system capable of recording engine information, but it wasn't enabled. The plane also had a cockpit voice recorder but didn't have flight data recorded; that equipment isn't legally required.
Those factors mean there are no in-flight voice, video or data recordings, which the TSB says hinders investigations.
In April 2018, the TSB recommended the installation of these recording systems by commercial and private operators not currently required to have that technology on board.
The TSB asked Transport Canada to review the emergency protocol manual entry on low engine oil protocol for the Fairchild Metro III.
Perimeter Aviation has since installed memory cards to store engine data on planes equipped with an integrated flight management system, as well as implementing crew training on resource management, the TSB said.