Expert Opinion
AINsight: Adaptations, Groupthink Down Twin Otter
Canada TSB drills down into group dynamics to find root cause of fuel starvation that led to a crash of a de Havilland Twin Otter.
A de Havilland DHC-6-300 Twin Otter crew was forced to ditch the aircraft in a muskeg 6.7 nm northwest of Fort Providence Aerodrome on Nov. 1, 2021. The Transportation Safety Board of Canada drills down into group dynamics to find the root cause of fuel starvation, which led to the crash. (Photo: Transportation Safety Board of Canada)
A de Havilland DHC-6-300 Twin Otter crew was forced to ditch the aircraft in a muskeg 6.7 nm northwest of Fort Providence Aerodrome on Nov. 1, 2021. The Transportation Safety Board of Canada drills down into group dynamics to find the root cause of fuel starvation, which led to the crash. (Photo: Transportation Safety Board of Canada)

In November 2021, a Canadian-registered de Havilland DHC-6-300 Twin Otter operating as a scheduled flight ran out of fuel and was forced to make an off-airport landing. The final accident report was just released and did not identify any mechanical issues with the aircraft, medical or physiological concerns with the flight crew, or any problems related to the weather. The pilots simply failed to check the fuel quantity prior to takeoff.

During the crash, the Twin Otter was substantially damaged. The two pilots and three passengers survived the crash and were rescued four hours afterward; each was treated for minor hypothermia after being exposed to freezing temperatures.

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Stuart “Kipp” Lau
Contributor - Safety
About the author

Pilot, safety expert, consultant, and aviation journalist Stuart “Kipp” Lau writes about flight safety and airmanship for AIN.

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