TSB Investigation Around Airplane Crash Near Mayo Lake Could Take Months

Wednesday, 21 August 2019 14:52

Two people were killed when a Cessna airplane went down around Mayo Lake on August 6th (Photo courtesy of Google Maps)

While Transportation Safety Board members have begun an investigation around the cause of an airplane crash that occurred near Mayo Lake earlier this month and killed two people, it's not known exactly when details around the incident will be released.

Transportation Safety Board (TSB) Spokesperson Dean Campbell say a team of investigators are looking at a variety of factors to determine why a Cessna airplane went down earlier this month near Mayo Lake and killed two people.

The aircraft was leaving Rackla, an old mining airstrip approximately 150 kilometers northeast of Mayo, and was enroute to Mayo when it went down near Mayo Lake. 24-year-old pilot Shawn Thomas Kitchen of Whitehorse and 33-year-old passenger Julia Lane of Vancouver perished in the crash.

Campbell says the investigation will focus on the aircraft and the conditions around the plane while it was in the air.

"The investigative team will be taking a look at all sorts of factors. That includes things like the airplane itself, the operation of that airplane, the history of maintenance for the aircraft, weather conditions, and any other relevant information that can be made in their investigative process."

Campbell says there is no definitive timeline regarding how long the investigation could take.

"(The timeline) really depends on how the investigation plays out. There isn't a specific target timeline because investigators want to make sure they give the work all the attention it deserves. The investigators have already been up to the site and are starting their analysis of what they found. That's being done back at our offices. The access at the site isn't going to be hampered."

Among the investigators include a two-person team from the TSB office in Edmonton.

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