West Wind Aviation ATR 42-300 plane crash
Fond-du-Lac, Canada
13th December, 2017

Fond-du-Lac, Canada The ATR-42-300 operated by West Wind Aviation took off from Fond-du-Lac, SK, Canada, for a passenger flight to Stony Rapids, SK, Canada. 22 passengers and 3 crewmembers were onboard. The plane lost height and crashed shortly after takeoff, about 1 kilometer past the runway. All occupants survived.

The West Wind Aviation turboprop crashed shortly after takeoff in the boreal forest area of northern Saskatchewan. A number of passengers and one crew member sustained serious injuries. The aircraft sustained substantial damage. The investigation report indicates that:

The aircraft descended into trees and terrain.
The wreckage path is at least 800 feet long.
The aircraft is in an upright position, but tilted steeply to the right.
The left side of the aircraft appears to have the worst damage.
The fuselage ruptured at about seating row number 3.

Weather reports for Fond-du-Lac at the moment of the accident called for cloudy conditions (ceiling at 1700 ft) with a small chance of flurries and a low of –9°C.

The plane involved in the accident was nearly 27 years old and first purchased by the now-defunct Mexican-based Noroeste airline in 1991. It has been subsequently owned by airlines in Kenya and South Africa before it was sold to West Wind in 2012, according to Airfleets.net.