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Copycat Suicide Eyed In Cargo Crash

By Russ Niles | November 5, 2017

Copycat suicide is one of three scenarios being considered by Canada’s Transportation Safety Board in the 2015 crash of a cargo aircraft with a drunk pilot in the left seat. The TSB report on the April 13, 2015, crash of the Carson Air Metroliner in the mountains north of Vancouver says radar tracks show the aircraft climbed normally on its way to Prince George after a 7 a.m. takeoff. Six minutes into the flight the Metro suddenly went into a vertical dive and broke apart in the air. It killed Capt. Robert Brandt, 34, and his first officer, Andrew Wang, 32.

Brandt had a blood alcohol level of .24 but Wang was clear of intoxicating substances. The report says pilot incapacitation and pitot static icing are possible causes but it spends much more time explaining the relationship between chronic alcohol abuse and suicide. It also notes the crash occurred roughly three weeks after Brandt was turned down for promotion to chief pilot and a Germanwings first officer intentionally crashed an A320 into the French Alps in a chillingly similar scenario.

In a news release accompanying the report, TSB Chair Kathy Fox said mandatory testing and monitoring of aviation workers for substance abuse should be implemented by the government. Canada does not mandate random drug and alcohol testing for pilots. "In Canada, regulations and company rules prohibit flying while impaired, but they rely heavily on self-policing," said Kathy Fox, chair of the TSB. "What is needed is a comprehensive substance abuse program that would include mandatory testing as well as complementary initiatives such as education, employee assistance, rehabilitation and peer support.”

TSB recommends substance abuse program following fatal 2015 Metroliner in-flight breakup

Wreckage of the Metro II (TSB)

The Transportation Safety Board of Canada (TSB) is recommending that Transport Canada work with the aviation industry and employee representatives to develop and implement requirements for a comprehensive substance abuse program to reduce the risk of impairment of persons while engaged in safety-sensitive functions. This follows the conclusion of an investigation into the fatal 2015 in-flight breakup of a cargo aircraft operated by Carson Air Ltd.

On 13 April 2015, the Carson Air Swearingen SA-226-TC Metro II was carrying freight from Vancouver International Airport to Prince George Airport, Canada, with a crew of two pilots on board. About six minutes after departure, the aircraft disappeared from radar. Its last known position was approximately 15 nautical miles north of the airport at an altitude of about 7500 feet. Ground searchers found aircraft wreckage on steep, mountainous, snow-covered terrain later in the day. The aircraft had experienced a catastrophic in-flight breakup. Both the captain and first officer were fatally injured, and the aircraft was destroyed.

The investigation determined that the aircraft entered a steep dive, then accelerated to a high speed which exceeded the aircraft's structural limits and led to an in-flight breakup. Subsequent toxicology testing indicated that the captain had consumed a significant amount of alcohol on the day of the occurrence. As a result, alcohol intoxication almost certainly played a role in the events leading up to the accident.

Pilot incapacitation is one of three scenarios which the TSB has not ruled out to explain the possible events that led to the accident. It is also possible that the heaters of the pitot system, which provides airspeed information, were off or malfunctioned. The third scenario involves a number of flight-specific factors that are consistent with an intentional act.

However, without objective data from a cockpit voice recorder or flight data recorder, it is impossible to determine with certainty which scenario played out during the occurrence flight. The TSB has previously recommended the installation of lightweight flight recording systems aboard smaller commercial aircraft and flight data monitoring by smaller commercial operators, both to advance transportation safety and to provide data to investigators following an occurrence.

More info:

TSB Report