Supporting technical information A98H0003

Witness accounts

Witness accounts

Weather

Several witnesses near the crash site provided the following weather information:

• Dark night
• Overcast layer of cloud
• Good visibility at ground level
• Warm, moist airmass
• Misty, but no precipitation on shore at time of the accident
• On-shore wind (out of the east at an estimated 5 knots)

Witnesses reported that precipitation began later that evening, during the crash response.

Sounds

As the aircraft passed over the Blandford area, numerous witnesses heard the very loud sound of the aircraft's engines. However, another sound was reported to be superimposed onto it, like that of a helicopter, a "spark plug knock," or the sound a truck might make when travelling along a washboard gravel road. This sound was a repetitive beat frequency, which remained at a constant rate and which was very loud.

Another similarity in the witnesses' descriptions is the rapid onset of the sound and the rapid rate at which it diminished as the aircraft passed overhead. Witnesses had the impression that the sound diminished faster than they would have expected based on range attenuation only.

The witnesses also indicated that the sound was sufficient to vibrate or shake the witnesses' houses; one witness reported having to yell to communicate over the sound.

Illumination

Witnesses noted white lights on the aircraft southbound over St. Margaret's Bay. Witnesses reported seeing either a steady bright white light, a red flashing light, or both. The white light was fixed (not flashing) and was more brilliant than the other observed lights. Based on the descriptions, these may have been the aircraft's runway turn-off lights, located on the leading edge of the wing at the wing root, or one or more of the anti-collision lights that are mounted on the top and bottom surfaces of the aircraft. Most accounts of a flashing red light were reported by witnesses in the Blandford/Indian Harbour area.

Some witnesses reported seeing the cabin lights on.

Fire sightings

Witnesses who saw the aircraft in the St. Margaret's Bay area did not report seeing fire. One witness in the Blandford area reported a blue-white glow emanating from the left side of the aircraft, forward of the wing root. This glow appeared to illuminate the left side of the aircraft only. This may have been an illuminated aircraft runway turn-off light, as seen through the cloud or haze.

There were several sightings described as a "flash" of light. At least one such sighting was associated with the aircraft flying over Blandford. For the others, it could not be determined whether the flash occurred while the aircraft was near Blandford or while it was closer to the crash site.

Smoky haze

A smoky haze following the aircraft was noted during the aircraft's southbound flight track out of St. Margaret's Bay and, by one witness, over Blandford. This area of grey mist, wedge-shaped or triangular, was possibly vented fuel or smoke as seen by the ground-based observers.

Other observations

No witness reported seeing any object separate from the aircraft.

One witness reported having seen the impact; however, the description of the event was not consistent with a high-velocity impact.

Summary of witness statements

The following table summarizes relevant information from witnesses near the accident site, who were interviewed by the TSB and the RCMP.

Location	Comments
	Situation	General Sights and Sounds	Lights	Fuel	Direction	Altitude
Fox Point	Saw and heard plane outside house	Low drone and then a thud		Felt like it was raining as the aircraft passed	Toward St. Margaret's Bay	Plane was unusually low
St. Margaret's Bay	Saw and heard plane while sailing	Noise similar to bang associated with lightning	Bright white lights like landing lights	Tail like a comet	South- southeast	Above clouds
St. Margaret's Bay	Saw and heard plane while sailing	Thunder-like sound	Single white light facing in direction of travel		Southward toward ocean in St. Margaret's Bay
St. Margaret's Bay	Saw plane while sailing toward		Bright white light, red flashing light (every 2 to 3 s)		Southward along St. Margaret's Bay	Reasonable altitude
East Ironbound Island	Heard plane flying over house	Heard consistent sound of engine; engine sound caused house to "buzz," then heard explosion			Travelling westward	Was above an overcast layer, good visibility below, did not see the aircraft
East Ironbound Island	Heard plane flying over	House and windows shook and rattled; heard impact		Could smell diesel fuel	Approached from west or northwest
Tancook Island	Heard plane flying over	Very loud sound: hissing noise, bang
Tancook Island	Heard plane outside of house	Plane sounded like rolling thunder; heard impact, explosion
Blandford	Saw plane going overhead	Two steady white lights visible as aircraft moved away	Steady white		Eastward toward Bayswater
Blandford	Saw plane in sky while camping in Bayswater	Nose down, no engine noise	Red and green light on wings plus bright landing light		Southeast	1 000 feet
Blandford	Saw and heard plane from house	Propeller aircraft type noise Saw plane from travelling from magnetic bearings and up elevations: 70°M/20°up to 110°M/9° up to 130°M/7° up	Saw red and white lights; white brighter; all lights in plane were lit; white strobe light		Clockwise turn as viewed from below, right wing was down
Blandford	In bed at the time and felt a concussion at 1030 ADT (0130 UTC)	Concussion noise
Blandford	Saw and heard plane outside house	Loud and low; came straight toward witness and over the house; could see the entire bottom of the plane; landing gear was not down	Lights flashing
Blandford	Heard plane outside of house	Flying very low, sounded like a helicopter; trying to gain altitude; heard engine stall, stuttering; heard second engine stop, low rumble, thunder and then windows shook
Blandford	Heard plane outside house	Very low, really loud, heard a bang
Blandford	Heard plane outside house	Very low, loud bang
Blandford	Heard plane outside house	Low level flight, loud, engine sound and then a thud
Blandford	Heard plane flying over	Loud thump that shook the whole house			Southwest
Blandford	Heard plane flying over	Loud noise like a helicopter, then "va-room" noise similar to thunder			Toward Pearl Island
Blandford	Heard plane outside house	Loud roar of plane engines, loud explosion			Toward Pearl Island
Blandford	Saw and heard plane outside house	Saw entire bottom of plane; felt thud that rattled the windows in the house	Yellowish light on bottom of plane
Blandford	Saw and heard plane flying over	Heard rumble like an explosion, then saw blue flash over the top of trees and yellow underneath
Blandford	Heard plane go over house	House shook, big boom and then house shook again
Blandford	Heard plane outside house	Very loud, flutter sound, thud, big wallop, orange red flash		Kerosene smell
Blandford	Saw and heard plane near house	Loud sound, boom	White light
Blandford	Heard plane	Engines rough and rumbly, then revving full throttle, and then explosion
Blandford	Heard plane	Low-flying jet, low muffled rumble, distant thunder roar, loud
Blandford	Heard plane outside house	Sounded like a helicopter, vibrating the house; heavy rumbling sound; heard loud boom		Felt wet drops on leg and saw them on the steps
Blandford	Heard plane outside home	Low flying, thump sound, heard and felt a large bang
Blandford	Heard plane outside house	Roar of large plane, engines roaring; large concussion shook house; dull thud
Blandford	Heard plane outside house	Sounded like a low-flying helicopter; dull clap of thunder
Blandford	Heard plane outside house	Rumbling noise, really large thud
Blandford	Heard plane going over house	Extremely loud noise
Blandford	Heard plane outside house	Low, sounded like a helicopter; heard a noise like thunder
Blandford	Heard plane going over house	Sounded erratic, like an old car missing one cylinder; engines loud; rumble in distance and then loud booming sound
Blandford	Heard plane going over house	House was shaking; extremely low; one engine normal, one lower pitch with intermittent throbbing; heard crash
Blandford	Heard plane outside house	Loud roaring; house shaking; loud thrust on engines, loud explosion, house shook
Blandford	Heard plane outside house	Very low, very loud; long pass, engine labouring; coughing not running smooth
Blandford	Saw and heard plane going over head	Sounded low, red fin with a white symbol on it, loud rumble
Blandford	Saw and heard plane outside house	Heard a very loud noise	Saw a small light and a larger brighter blue-white light
Blandford	Heard plane outside house	Louder and louder, abruptly ended with a sound like a thump
Blandford	Heard plane approaching house	Very low, very loud
Blandford	Heard plane going over house	Louder and louder, went over house toward Bayswater Beach; abruptly ended with a thump sound			Toward Bayswater Beach
Blandford	Heard plane outside house	Very loud and low; after the loudest point the sound got fainter and then louder again, loud thump; shook the house
Blandford	Heard plane outside house	Very low, unusually loud, deep rumble; boom shook the house
Blandford	Heard plane outside house	Sounded like a helicopter, "thump-thump-thump," then loud boom
Blandford	Heard plane outside house	Very low, very loud; one engine sounded heavy like lugging; snap like lightning
Blandford	Heard plane outside house	Really low, house vibrated, lawn mower or helicopter sound, engine not running right		Could smell oil
Blandford	Heard plane outside house	Low flying, unnatural motor sound; sounded like it was landing; terminated with a boom
Blandford	Heard and saw plane outside house	Really low, roaring like a helicopter or prop plane; heard thud	Two steady white lights on tips of wings
Blandford	Heard plane over house	Bang, thunderclap
Blandford	Heard plane over house	Louder and louder, very low, heard a boom
Blandford	Heard plane outside house	Sounded like a helicopter noise, the sound was like a noise, a pause, more noise, then a pause, then a crash
Bayswater	Saw and heard plane flying over	Orange yellowish flash, loud rumble like thunder
Bayswater	Saw plane flying over Owl Head and White Point	Could see two engines, plane was low			Owl Head and White Point
Bayswater	Saw and heard plane outside house	Rumbling sound	Saw 4 to 6 red lights		South, banked southeast
Indian Harbour	Saw plane while sitting on the shore	Quite low	Red and green lights
Indian Harbour	Saw plane in sky	Roaring noise, making a turn to the right, engine over-revving	Flashing red light on wing, no lights in plane		Across the bay toward Indian Harbour
Indian Harbour	Saw and heard plane flying over	Rumbling noise	Could see the windows in the plane
Indian Harbour	Saw and heard plane in sky	Low, slow speed, sounded like a helicopter	Red light, green light was dim, white light had long beam in front
Indian Harbour	Saw and heard plane outside house	Loud noise, huge plane, very low; no landing gear, nose angled upward	Nothing flashing underneath, all lit up inside; could see the letter "D" on the tail	Smelled strong burning exhaust-type fuel
Peggy's Cove	Saw what believes was plane in water		Little square windows lit up
Peggy's Cove	Heard plane outside house	Loud rumbling, loud whooping
Peggy's Cove	Saw and heard plane flying over		Red lights very clear
Peggy's Cove	Saw plane while driving in car	Lower than usual	Red and green lights
Peggy's Cove	Heard plane outside house	Sounded like a truck with the muffler broken off, whomp like thunder
Peggy's Cove	Heard plane outside house	Sounded like a car with a hole in the manifold; shook the house; there was a boom like thunder
Peggy's Cove	Heard plane outside house	Running rough, sounded like a car with a hole in the manifold, gravelly sound, there was a boom like thunder
Peggy's Cove	Saw plane while driving in car	Bright orange glow shaped like halo
Peggy's Cove	Saw and heard plane outside house	Loud rumble, could see red on starboard side, loud roar			Northerly direction toward Glen Haven and Tantallon
Peggy's Cove	Saw and heard plane going over	Helicopter sound, lower than normal, intermittent noise	Saw cabin lights; red lights on
Peggy's Cove	Saw and heard plane coming across sky	Very low, roaring, huge plane, no landing gear	No lights on outside, lights inside	Strong burning exhaust-type fuel	Flying toward Green Island	Estimated to be 100 feet high
Peggy's Cove	Saw and heard plane outside house	Engine sounded different	Could see the cabin lights and the red lights were on		Plane was heading northeast
Peggy's Cove	Heard plane while camping	Rumbling noise, louder and louder, like a dump truck on a gravel road
Peggy's Cove	Heard plane going over house	Thump, pictures on wall rattled

Witness location map