Kerry McCluskey
Northern News Services

IQALUIT(Dec 14/98) - One of the investigators looking into the accident that occurred at the end of the Iqaluit Airport runway two weeks ago said the fairly serious crash was most likely the result of a cargo imbalance.

Marc Fernandez, an employee of the federal Transportation Safety Board, said the matter involving the 748 First Air passenger plane was still under investigation, but judging by the past performance of the aircraft and noting that proper de-icing procedures had been followed, the evidence likely pointed to a freight imbalance.

"If you don't place things properly, it could have imbalanced the aircraft...and affected the performance of the machine," said Fernandez, the head investigator of the inquiry.

During an interview from his office in Quebec, he explained the events that led up to the crash.

Shortly after 3:30 p.m. on Dec.4, the pilot and co-pilot initiated take-off for Igloolik. After reaching a speed of 115 knots -- about 200 kilometres an hour -- the flight crew attempted to lift off but the plane didn't respond. Because of their high speed, they were committed to take-off and tried a second time. Again the plane failed to leave the ground and the pilots attempted to reject take-off and bring the aircraft to a halt but only managed to slow it down.

"They could not stop it because they were too far down the runway," said Fernandez.

Travelling at a speed of 100 km/hr, the plane left the tarmac and the three passengers and four crew members aboard slammed into the rocks at the end of the airstrip.

"As soon as it started going into rocks everything came off. One wing was torn off, the two propellers were completely finished, the two main gears were ripped off and the nosewheel came off," said Fernandez.

The cockpit of the plane remained intact however, and the pilots were able to exit the plane and escort the five other people safely off the aircraft. They had started to walk back up the runway when they were met by emergency vehicles. One passenger was slightly injured and transported to hospital and later released.

Fernandez said the seven people were very fortunate to walk away from the crash.

"They were lucky the aircraft didn't catch on fire when it hit the rocks. It's a strong machine, the 748."

Fernandez said it could take his team up to a year to finish their investigation and to prepare their report.

First Air officials, who also deployed an investigative team to the scene following the accident, said they would receive a copy of the final report and would be given a chance to make comments on it before the Transportation Safety Board ruled on the final cause of the incident.