Fort MacMurray Plane Crash Still Under Investigation
A plane crash near Fort MacMurray last week is still under investigation, and the investigators have stated that there is no way to know who was piloting the Cessna 172 immediately before the aircraft crashed. The plane collided wit another aircraft and then crashed to the ground last Sunday. According to Edmonton regional manager for the Transportation Safety Board Jon Lee it is not possible for the investigators to determine whether the flight instructor from Fort MacMurray Aviation was in control or if the student was flying the plane when the mid air collision occurred. “Those (training) aircraft are equipped with dual flight controls, so the instructor, who sits in the right seat, can fly the aircraft as well. In a dual training flight scenario, either pilot could have been flying … we’ll never know.”
Fort MacMuuray Aviation flight instructor 33 year old Nabeel Chaudhry was killed in the plane crash along with his student, 32 year old Amjed Ahmed. The collision is believed to have happened 1,300 feet above the ground, and it was the 4th training flight for Ahmed. The Cessna 172 hit a Cessna 185 in the air. The pilot and single other occupant of the Cessna 185 both survived and were interviewed. Jon Lee explained “The 172 was — in our terminology, we call it destroyed. So both wings came off the aircraft, the cabin or the fuselage was severely disrupted, the roof was torn off.. All that to say, is that it’s not looking like an airplane anymore.”