Crowded Circuit Led to Mid-Air Collision

The Transportation Safety Board (TSB) released its investigation report on October 21 into the mid-air collision between two training aircraft at the Steinbach airport (CKK7) in Manitoba. The July 8, 2025, accident claimed the lives of two soloing students, one training towards a commercial licence and the other towards a private licence.

The aircraft involved were a Cessna 172R (C-GZKA) and a Cessna 152 (C-GGPE) and both were in the circuit performing touch and go exercises after taking off from CKK7. Two other aircraft had also taken off from CKK7 while GZKA and GGPE were in the circuit, both subsequently joining the circuit. Although all four aircraft in the circuit were making radio calls, none included distance from the runway threshold while on the final leg.

When both occurrence aircraft were 1 statute mile from the runway, radar records showed GZKA to be about 100 feet directly above GGPE at 08:41:58 local time. At 08:42, the two aircraft briefly made initial contact. GGPE’s pilot applied full power, causing the aircraft to pitch up. Since GGPE was under GZKA, this led to the two aircraft making contact again, subsequently becoming entangled and crashing to the ground about a ¼ mile short of the runway.

The airport is operated by flight school Harv’s Air, to whom two of the four aircraft in the circuit belonged. Safety measures introduced by Harv’s Air since the accident include limiting the circuit to three aircraft at one time, requiring that radio calls announcing final include distance from the runway, all aircraft lights to be continuously on during flight, and mandatory briefings on the importance of see-and-avoid techniques. Harv’s Air has also embarked on equipping more of its aircraft with ADS-B OUT and IN technology.

At the end of the accident report, the TSB discusses ADS-B and its merits:

“NAV CANADA currently requires all aircraft flying into Class A and B airspace to be equipped with a transponder with ADS-B OUT. This mandate will be expanded to Class C, D, and E airspace no sooner than 2028. At the time of report writing, there is no requirement for aircraft to be equipped with a system with ADS-B IN.”

This mandate is designed for Nav Canada-controlled airspace. The ADS-B OUT signal received by ATC will allow ATC to provide traffic separation, principally to IFR traffic and to VFR-to-VFR traffic on a workload-permitting basis. Outside of controlled airspace, ADS-B OUT signals are meaningless to other aircraft unless that aircraft has ADS-B IN equipage.

Regardless, given that this accident occurred in Class G airspace, the pending Nav Canada mandate is irrelevant. Only mandatory ADS-B IN and OUT equipage in all airspace would have provided the occurrence pilots with better situational awareness.

Click here to read the full TSB report.