Quebecair Flight 255
Fairchild F-27 · Uncontained engine failure leading to engine separation and loss of control
From Quebec Jean Lesage International Airport (YQB) to Montreal / Pierre Elliott Trudeau International Airport (YUL)
Event
- Event typeAccident: someone killed or seriously injured, or the aircraft substantially damaged (NTSB definition). Incident: an occurrence that affected or could have affected safety, short of that. Glossary
- Accident
- Event fatalities
- 17 · all aircraft and ground
- Ground fatalities
- Unknown
- Occupants
- 24
- Survivors
- 7
- InjuriesFatal: death within 30 days. Serious: over 48 hours in hospital within a week, most broken bones, severe bleeding, nerve or organ damage, or serious burns. Minor: anything less. Glossary
- Unknown
- OperationWhat kind of flying it was, grouped by the rules it flew under: airline (US Part 121), air taxi and commuter (Part 135), general aviation (Part 91 and similar), military or government. Glossary
- Airline
Fairchild F-27
- Flight
- QB255
- Aircraft type
- Fairchild F-27
- Category
- Airplane · from aircraft type
- RegistrationThe aircraft's tail number, such as N12345 or G-ABCD. Registrations are reissued, so the same one years apart can be a different aircraft. Glossary
- C-FQBL
- Operator
- Quebecair
- Onboard fatalities
- 17
- Route
- From Quebec Jean Lesage International Airport (YQB)To Montreal / Pierre Elliott Trudeau International Airport (YUL)
Cause areas
- Not determined › Not determined
- Aircraft › Aircraft power plant
- Aircraft › Aircraft oper/perf/capability
From the investigation findings the Wikipedia article reports, sorted into the NTSB's cause areas with AI assistance.
Approximate · Coordinates from the Wikipedia article; not checked against an investigation report.
From the Wikipedia article
Quebecair Flight 255 was a scheduled flight from Quebec City to Montreal. On March 29, 1979, moments after takeoff at 6:48:43 PM (local time), the right engine of the Fairchild F-27 that was operating the flight exploded and caught fire. The crippled aircraft, registered C-FQBL, crashed soon after in a nearby field. All three crew and 14 of the 21 passengers died.
Accident
At 6:48:43 PM, the 21 year-old Fairchild F-27 took off from Jean Lesage International Airport (then known as Aéroport de l'Ancienne-Lorette or Aéroport de Sainte-Foy). Almost immediately, pilot André Bessette alerted the control tower to a fire within their right engine, which quickly spread along the whole wing. The crew attempted to circle back to the airport for an emergency landing, only to crash in what was then a sloping farm field, about 1,3 km (0.8 mile) east of the airport's nearest runway. The crash caused an explosion leading to a fire. Firefighters managed to bring under control the fire after one hour.
According to witnesses, the plane flew at a height of not more than 200 feet (61 m) when the right wing came into contact with the ground, causing the rest of the plane to roll upside down before it suddenly fell down on the ground "like a brick". The plane broke apart upon impact and the debris caught fire right away. The crash was seen and heard by a number of nearby residents, whose homes were in some cases located approximately only 200 meters (656 ft) away. They were amongst the first to reach the crash site along with some officers of the Service de Police de Sainte-Foy and lay brothers from the nearby Maison mère des Frères du Sacré Cœur, using pocket knives and home tools to free a few passengers who were still strapped to their seats. Two men supporting a woman, all of them injured, were able to get out of the wreckage on their own and walk down the field, despite their injuries. They were guided to a nearby house to wait for paramedics to reach the scene.
Investigation and cause
Investigation
The cockpit voice recorder (CVR) and flight data recorder (FDR) were recovered but only the CVR provided "some useful information." The investigation was unable to determine the cause of the accident. The final report did not contain a probable cause statement.
Canadian investigators established that shortly after the twin-turboprop airliner lifted off, the low pressure impeller from the no. 2 engine burst, causing the forward part of the engine to separate. The flight crew were unable to raise the landing gear because debris from the engine damaged the electronic gear selection circuitry. This, together with the exposed engine, increased the aerodynamic drag dramatically, and the aircraft was unable to climb or maintain altitude during its final turn. The centre of gravity shifted beyond its aft limit due to the engine separation and passenger movement, causing the airspeed to drop below the minimum control speed shortly before the aircraft struck the hillside.
Text from the Wikipedia article “Quebecair Flight 255” (revision 1364270097, retrieved 2026-09-18) by its authors, under CC BY-SA 4.0. Extracted as plain text: references, tables, images and some sections are left out. Read the article
Sources
Wikipedia article: Quebecair Flight 255
- Article
- Quebecair Flight 255
- Revision
- 1364270097 · 2026-07-15 · retrieved 2026-09-18
- Wikidata
- Q7269864
- Licence
- Text CC BY-SA 4.0, by the article's authors; Wikidata CC0; town positions GeoNames (CC BY 4.0)
Where each value comes from
- Record
- Wikipedia article "Quebecair Flight 255" (page 18652082, revision 1364270097)
- Date
- Wikipedia infobox: date
- Place and country
- Wikipedia infobox: site; country from Wikidata (P17)
- Map position
- Wikipedia article coordinates
- Aircraft, operator and route
- Wikipedia infobox: aircraft type, registration, operator, origin and destination; route airports from the linked airport articles' Wikidata codes (OurAirports)
- Operation
- airline flight number in the infobox
- Fatalities
- Wikipedia infobox: aircraft fatalities
- Ground fatalities
- not stated in the Wikipedia infobox
- Summary
- Wikipedia infobox: summary
Source notes (1)
- Wikipedia · Facts from the Wikipedia article's infobox and coordinates, not checked against an investigation report. Independent review pending.