Pilot Alex Bahlsen struggled to regain control of his twin-engine Piper Aerostar on approach to Nanaimo, telling a controller he 'just had a fail' as the aircraft veered wildly off its flight path and the pilot repeatedly radioed for new landing coordinates.
VICTORIA -- Moments before a small plane crashed into the northern tip of B.C.'s Gabriola Island in December, killing all three people on board, the pilot radioed to a controller on the ground complaining of instrument failure.
The plane's speed and altitude also began to vary erratically, dropping to 1,800 feet at speeds of approximately 300 kilometres per hour, then climbing to 2,700 feet at 110 kilometres per hour. TSB engineers, however, have been unable to determine if the instrument was malfunctioning at the time, or if it was damaged after the aircraft hit the ground and burst into flames.
The TSB report notes that pilots are at increased risk of spatial disorientation when coping with the stress of primary instrument failure.
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