Risk Tolerance Cited In BT-67 Crash

A “results-oriented subculture of some of North Star Air’s DC3-TP67 pilots, which emphasize mission completion over regulatory compliance,” was cited in the Transportation Safety Board’s investigation of the crash of a company Basler conversion in December of 2019 at Sachigo Lake, Ontario. The pilots were uninjured but the plane was wrecked. In a news release, the TSB said some of the pilots routinely flew in IMC on VFR flights. The fact they got away with it so often reinforced their decision to launch when the weather reports showed marginal VFR and reports of IMC.
On the crash flight, the pilots flew on instruments for most of the approach. “Once the aircraft broke out of cloud at very low level, the aircraft was not in a position to continue with the planned visual approach, yet several attempts were made to land,” the report said. “During the last attempt, the aircraft collided with terrain southwest of the runway and slid along the ground before coming to rest.” The airline implemented a flight operations quality assurance program after the crash.