TSB releases report into fatal 2022 crash near Stratford Municipal Airport

The wreckage of a plane is seen in a Perth County field on Aug. 23, 2022. (CTV Kitchener)

In August of 2022, a plane crash near the airport in Stratford, Ont. claimed the life of a lone pilot. On Thursday, the Transportation Safety Board of Canada (TSB) released its findings into the circumstances surrounding the crash.

At approximately 8:30 a.m. on Aug. 22, 2022, a Grumman G-44 Widgeon aircraft had departed the airport in Sarnia, Ont. for a visual flight rules (VFR) flight to Stratford Municipal Airport for the purpose of an annual inspection.

The pilot was alone on board.

In the report, the TSB said the plane was at an altitude of 3,000 feet when it approached the airport from the southwest, heading towards runway 23.

At 9:10 a.m., the plane was observed flying in low-visibility conditions, and entering and exiting through areas of low cloud cover “in a steep right angle of bank.” The plane then disappeared from sight, and a few seconds later, the sound of an impact was heard.

The actual crash was not observed, but the TSB report said smoke and fire was seen in a nearby field and observers called 9-1-1. The plane crashed in a cultivated field 1.3 nautical miles east-northeast of runway 23.

Map showing the accident site in relation to the intended destination (runway 23), and assumed direction of flight (right base leg for runway 23). (Source: Google Earth, with TSB annotations)There was a “significant post-impact fire” and the aircraft was destroyed.

The pilot did not survive the crash.

In the report, the TSB noted that the pilot held the appropriate licence for the planned flight and was endorsed with a VFR over-the-top rating. However, the pilot did not have an instrument rating.

According to the TSB, weather reporting at the airport in Stratford was not available, but local observers reported the weather as having “poor visibility, low ceilings with fog at the airport and surrounding area.”

“The investigation was unable to determine the aircraft’s actual speed during the flight or during the steep turn that was observed shortly before the accident,” the report reads.

In addition, the report reveals that the aircraft struck the ground “in a nearly vertical angle” in which the propellers were embedded into the ground and the wings’ leading edges were crushed by impact forces. A post-crash blaze consumed the entire fuselage.

Due to the lack of flight data recorders – which were not legally required – and subsequent lack of available data, the TSB report concludes that “the investigation could not determine the complete sequence of events that led to the collision with terrain.”