Air transportation safety investigation A21W0071

Collision with terrain

Mooney M20C
Slave Lake Airport, Alberta, 12 NM N
31 August 2021

View final report

The occurrence

On 31 August 2021, a Mooney M20C aircraft was on a visual flight rules (VFR) flight plan from La Crete Airport, Alberta, to Saskatoon International Airport, Saskatchewan. The flight plan filed with NAV CANADA indicated that the plane would fly over Slave Lake Airport, Alberta, and Lloydminster Airport, Alberta, but would not stop at these airports. At 1012 Mountain Daylight Time, an emergency locator transmitter (ELT) signal was received from a location approximately 12 nautical miles north of Slave Lake Airport. The search operation was delayed because of poor weather. The aircraft was found on 2 September 2021. The pilot, who was the sole occupant, was fatally injured. There was no post-impact fire.

Media materials

News release

Deployment notice

Investigation information

Map showing the location of the occurrence

Investigator-in-charge

Gerrit B. Vermeer started his professional aviation career by joining the Mission Aviation Fellowship and moving to Southern Africa. During his time there, he served as a line pilot and acted as chief pilot and operations manager. Upon returning to Canada, Mr. Vermeer flew for a charter operator out of the Edmonton International Airport, serving the oil and gas industry. In 2008, he joined Transport Canada and, for five and a half years, worked as an inspector in the Enforcement Branch. He then transferred to the Operations department of the Prairie and Northern Region and, for the next year, served as a principle operations inspector for a number of northern operators.

Mr. Vermeer has a Bachelor’s degree in Mission Aviation Technology and currently holds a fixed wing airline transport pilot licence with approximately 6400 hours of flight time. He also holds a Canadian aircraft maintenance engineer license, as well as an airframe and powerplant technician license issued by the USA's Federal Aviation Administration.

Class of investigation

This is a class 4 investigation. These investigations are limited in scope, and while the final reports may contain limited analysis, they do not contain findings or recommendations. Class 4 investigations are generally completed within 220 days. For more information, see the Policy on Occurrence Classification.

TSB investigation process

There are 3 phases to a TSB investigation

1. Field phase: a team of investigators examines the occurrence site and wreckage, interviews witnesses and collects pertinent information.
2. Examination and analysis phase: the TSB reviews pertinent records, tests components of the wreckage in the lab, determines the sequence of events and identifies safety deficiencies. When safety deficiencies are suspected or confirmed, the TSB advises the appropriate authority without waiting until publication of the final report.
3. Report phase: a confidential draft report is approved by the Board and sent to persons and corporations who are directly concerned by the report. They then have the opportunity to dispute or correct information they believe to be incorrect. The Board considers all representations before approving the final report, which is subsequently released to the public.

For more information, see our Investigation process page.

The TSB is an independent agency that investigates air, marine, pipeline, and rail transportation occurrences. Its sole aim is the advancement of transportation safety. It is not the function of the Board to assign fault or determine civil or criminal liability.