The Transportation Safety Board (TSB) report into the crash, released says the incident is consistent with a "controlled flight into terrain."

The TSB's findings included:

• "the pilot used an unauthorized remote altimeter setting that would have resulted in the cockpit altimeters reading approximately 200 feet higher than the actual altitude";
• "the pilot did not meet the night recency requirements necessary to carry passengers";
• neither the pilot nor front seat passenger was wearing shoulder harnesses, as required by regulation; and,
• search and rescue operations were hampered by inaccurate satellite location information. It took 10 hours for searchers to get on the scene, 1.3 nautical miles from the Fort Liard airport.

Three people on board the Deh Cho Air plane were killed and the pilot and two passengers seriously injured in the Oct. 15, 2001 crash. The TSB said injuries suffered by the pilot and front seat passenger would likely have been reduced had they been wearing shoulder harnesses.

The crash occurred as the pilot circled to approach the Fort Liard runway. It was snowing heavily and the plane hit a gravel bar on the west side of the Liard River at 10:33 p.m.

The passengers were returning from a signing ceremony held in Yellowknife for the proposed natural gas pipeline when the plane went down.

Since the incident, Deh Cho Air has made several safety changes, including:

• two-member crews will be dispatched for any multi-engine night flights or IFR flights.
• requiring all air crew to wear shoulder harnesses;
• all pilots must use the company's flight duty program and keep track of their duty and flight times; and,
• ensuring that planes arriving at Fort Liard after the airport radio station closes can get current weather and airport information.