The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) said that it has identified the cause of the seaplane crash that took the lives of all 10 people on board off the coast of Whitby Island last month. requested to be banned.
NTSB Chairman Jennifer Homendi said the most important thing for now is to ensure that the DHC-3 ‘Otter’ turboprop seaplane, which is the accident model, does not cause the same tragedy in the future due to the same cause. described as work.
Chairman Homendi said that when experts inspected the wreckage of the salvaged plane, it was found that an important part of the horizontal tail wing, which controls the plane’s altitude, had fallen off. said to have concluded.
She added that there was a possibility that there was a problem with the maintenance of the plane, saying that several people have seen the plane, which had lost its horizontal tail function, plummeted at great speed, and was thrown into the sea.
She urged all airlines that own Otter aircraft not to operate them until safety has been confirmed.
Seattle-based Kenmore Airlines, which owns 10 Otter aircraft, said it had detected a vulnerability in the aircraft and had already completed safety checks last week, and said service had not been disrupted.
The DHC-3 Otter aircraft that caused the accident is one of a total of 466 manufactured by De Havilland Canada from the 1950s to 1967, owned by Renton-based Friday Harbor Seaplanes. There are currently 65 of these aging planes in service in the United States and 160 around the world.
Friday Harbor Seaplanes have transported tourists and commuters from Renton’s Lake Washington shores to San Wan Island and Canada on these planes.
Meanwhile, the FAA said that it is in close contact with the Canadian Ministry of Transport, which approved the Otter model, and that it will take appropriate measures based on the actions of the Canadian authorities and the maintenance rules of the Otter model manufacturer.