TSB Recovers Missing Wing and Tail Sections from Fatal Fort Simpson Firefighting Crash
The Transportation Safety Board (TSB) has recovered the left wing, horizontal stabilizer and vertical stabilizer that were missing from the Buffalo Airways aircraft that crashed near Fort Simpson, Northwest Territories, while fighting a fire 28 nautical miles west of the Fort Simpson Airport. The left wing was found on July 26 and the tail sections were retrieved on September 23, after a dive team used side‑scan sonar to locate them in a lake about 1,000 ft southeast of the crash site.1,2,3
The aircraft had been airborne for roughly two‑and‑a‑half hours, completing two full circles of the fire before it broke up, highlighting the risks faced by aerial firefighting operations in remote regions. The recovered components have been sent to the TSB’s Edmonton facility for analysis, which will aid the investigation into the cause of the accident and inform safety measures for future firefighting missions.1,3