Low visibility is responsible for a 2008 plane crash that claimed seven lives on Thormanby Island, B.C., according to a report released Wednesday from the Transportation Safety Board.
The Pacific Coastal Airlines Grumman Goose float plane was carrying workers from Vancouver to a hydro-electric project in Toba Inlet, north of Powell River, when it slammed into the island near the Sunshine Coast.
To the astonishment of family and doctors, lone survivor Tom Wilson, 38, walked away from the crash with no broken bones or internal injuries.
In its final report, The TSB found that the flight was likely conducted below weather standards required for visual flight rules, and as a result the pilot didn't see the island until moments before it crashed.
"There are some hard lessons that need to be learned and re-learned in aviation and this is one of them," said TSB's Bill Yearwood.
Related: Read the full TSB report
Yearwood said that flying in low visibility is responsible for "too many deaths" in Canada and cautioned that pilots must be able to see in front of them at all times.
"It's almost impossible to avoid obstacles and rising ground when clouds are low, the visibility is poor and you're flying at twice the speed of cars on the highway," he warned.
The TSB says planes colliding with land or water are among the deadliest of aviation accidents, accounting for 25 per cent of fatalities across the country. The board said that risk is compounded in mountainous terrain in poor weather.
Yearwood said part of the problem is customers that put pressure on companies to fly in times of questionable weather and visibility.
"We need to see better decisions from companies and pilots to prevent these kinds of accidents."
