News release

Today, the Transportation Safety Board of Canada (TSB) released its investigation report (A24Q0027) into a 2024 hard landing of a De Havilland DHC-8-314 aircraft, operated by an Air Inuit Ltd., at the Kangiqsujuaq (Wakeham Bay) Airport in Quebec.

On March 30, 2024, the aircraft was on a daytime cargo flight with two flight crew and one cargo agent on board. During landing, the aircraft’s wheels touched down about 220 feet short of the runway threshold, striking a gravel mound. The lower part of the left main landing gear broke off, the aircraft bounced and touched down again with only the nose wheel and right landing gear, coming to a stop on the runway. The aircraft sustained substantial damage to the left landing gear, fuselage, and left propeller. There were no injuries.

The investigation found that the pilot aimed to land near the runway threshold to reduce the risk of a runway overrun, which is a common practice on short runways. This resulted in the aircraft being flown visually below the glide path. The pilot intended to perform a flare so that the aircraft would touch down after the runway threshold. However, at the end of the approach, a downdraft prevented the crew from stopping the descent, leading to an earlier touchdown.

Following the occurrence, Air Inuit Ltd. investigated the accident using its safety management system to identify the root causes. As a result, it published an internal safety alert regarding the risks associated with short landings, created a diagram depicting a desired touchdown zone for gravel runways, and updated the company’s stabilized landing criteria, in addition to several amendments to its training program.

See the investigation page for more information.