Transport Canada says a Piper Aerostar 602P that crashed on Gabriola Island, just east of Nanaimo, B.C. last Thursday night suffered some kind of non-engine-related technical issue before it went down. In Friday’s CADORS summary, the report on the crash lists “mechanical/technical malfunction of aircraft-other” as a factor in the crash, which killed the pilot, Alex Bahlsen and a male and female passenger. The aircraft had flown from Bishop, California bound for Nanaimo when it went down and reportedly exploded.
The CADORS report says the aircraft was on an ILS approach to Runway 16 at Nanaimo when the pilot “reported an equipment issue and deviated from the approach prior to dropping off of radar.” Weather was overcast with light winds at the time and the temperature and dewpoint were both 8 degrees. CADORS is officially listing the occurrence categories as “unknown or undetermined” and “system/component failure or malfunction [non-powerplant].”