Quebecair

Quebecair

Quebecair was a Canadian airline that operated from 1947 until 1986. Quebecair was headquartered in Saint-Laurent, Quebec, now a part of Montreal.-Company history:...

 Flight 255 was a scheduled flight from Quebec City

Quebec City

Quebec , also Québec, Quebec City or Québec City is the capital of the Canadian province of Quebec and is located within the Capitale-Nationale region. It is the second most populous city in Quebec after Montreal, which is about to the southwest...

 to Montreal

Montreal

Montreal is a city in Canada. It is the largest city in the province of Quebec, the second-largest city in Canada and the seventh largest in North America...

. On March 29, 1979, a Fairchild F-27 registered CF-QBL flying the route crashed after an engine exploded shortly after take off, killing all three crew and 14 out of 21 passengers. The crash occurred minutes after it took off.

Crash

Following takeoff from Jean Lesage International Airport, the flight crew advised the control tower of a problem with their right engine. The plane was given clearance for an emergency landing, and it circled the airport twice, before flying above a restaurant with flames bursting from one engine. The plane had begun the final turn in its landing sequence, but crashed into a hillside. "I heard a loud explosion and rushed out and saw the plane in flames" one witness said. Firemen arrived at the scene within minutes, but it was reported they were "unable to approach the burning wreckage for some time because of the extreme heat." Ambulances also had difficulty reaching the accident site because they had to cross a railway line to reach it. "Most of the people were not dead. Several died during the first half-hour after the accident. There were limbs cut off. We had to be careful when we were moving them." one woman told journalists.

Investigation

The flight data recorders

Flight recorder

A flight recorder is an electronic recording device placed in an aircraft for the purpose of facilitating the investigation of an aircraft accident or incident. For this reason, flight recorders are required to be capable of surviving the conditions likely to be encountered in a severe aircraft...

 were recovered soon after the crash. Canadian investigators concluded that shortly after the twin-turboprop

Turboprop

A turboprop engine is a type of turbine engine which drives an aircraft propeller using a reduction gear.The gas turbine is designed specifically for this application, with almost all of its output being used to drive the propeller...

 airliner lifted off the low pressure impeller from the no. 2 engine burst, causing the forward part of the no. 2 engine to separate. The flight crew were unable to raise the landing gear

Landing Gear

Landing Gear is Devin the Dude's fifth studio album. It was released on October 7, 2008. It was his first studio album since signing with the label Razor & Tie. It features a high-profile guest appearance from Snoop Dogg. As of October 30, 2008, the album has sold 18,906 copies.-Track...

 because debris from the engine damaged the electronic gear selection circuitry. Along with the exposed engine increased drag

Drag

- In science and technology :* Drag , the force which resists motion of an object through a fluid* Drag equation, a mathematical equation used in analyzing the magnitude of drag caused by fluid flow...

 dramatically on the aeroplane, and the aircraft was unable to climb or maintain altitude

Altitude

Altitude or height is defined based on the context in which it is used . As a general definition, altitude is a distance measurement, usually in the vertical or "up" direction, between a reference datum and a point or object. The reference datum also often varies according to the context...

 during the final turn. The centre of gravity shifted beyond its aft limit due to the engine separation and passenger movement, causing the airspeed

Airspeed

Airspeed is the speed of an aircraft relative to the air. Among the common conventions for qualifying airspeed are: indicated airspeed , calibrated airspeed , true airspeed , equivalent airspeed and density airspeed....

 to drop below the minimum control speed shortly before the aircraft struck the hillside.