FLIGHT FINDINGSAVIATION OCCURRENCE MAP
Back to map

Blue Water Aviation Services accident at Family Lake

26 Oct 2019 · Family Lake, Little Grand Rapids First Nation, Manitoba, Canada

De Havilland Canada DHC-3 Turbine Otter · The Blue Water Aviation Services accident at Family Lake occurred on 26 October 2019

From Bissett Water Aerodrome, Manitoba, Canada to Family Lake, Manitoba, Canada

Report a problem

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
3 · all aircraft and ground
Ground fatalities
Unknown
Occupants
Unknown
Survivors
0
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
Charter & commuter

De Havilland Canada DHC-3 Turbine Otter

Aircraft type
de Havilland DHC-3
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-GBTU
Onboard fatalities
3
Route
From Bissett Water Aerodrome, Manitoba, CanadaTo Family Lake, Manitoba, Canada

Cause areas

  • Aircraft › Aircraft structures

From the investigation findings the Wikipedia article reports, sorted into the NTSB's cause areas with AI assistance.

Not plotted · Not plotted: the Wikipedia article gives no coordinates, and its site names no town or airport that matches exactly.

From the Wikipedia article

The Blue Water Aviation Services accident at Family Lake occurred on 26 October 2019. On a charter flight from Bissett Water Aerodrome to Family Lake within the Canadian province of Manitoba, a float-equipped De Havilland Canada DHC-3 Turbine Otter of Blue Water Aviation Services crashed. All three occupants were killed in the accident.

Sequence of the accident

When the aircraft was on final approach to Family Lake, the right wing suddenly tore off the fuselage. The aircraft went out of control and crashed into the lake. All three occupants were killed.

Investigation and cause

Cause

The Transportation Safety Board of Canada took over the investigation into the cause of the crash. The investigators determined that a fatigue fracture had occurred on the aircraft at the bolt hole bore in the area of the upper right wing strut. The failure of this assembly had led to a structural overload of the wing structure and finally to the separation of the wing.

Translated into English with AI assistance from the German Wikipedia article “Flugunfall der Blue Water Aviation Services am Family Lake” (revision 268115455, retrieved 2026-09-19) by its authors, under CC BY-SA 4.0. Extracted as plain text: references, tables, images and some sections are left out; the translation may contain errors, and long articles were cut to their first 700 words. Read the article

Sources

German Wikipedia article: Flugunfall der Blue Water Aviation Services am Family Lake
Article
Flugunfall der Blue Water Aviation Services am Family Lake
Translation
Into English with AI assistance; names of linked operators and aircraft types from Wikidata. It may contain errors.
Revision
268115455 · 2026-06-21 · retrieved 2026-09-19
Wikidata
Q110219409
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
de Wikipedia article "Flugunfall der Blue Water Aviation Services am Family Lake" (page 12015186, revision 268115455), translated into English with AI assistance
Date
Wikipedia infobox: date
Place and country
Wikipedia infobox: site
Map position
none
Aircraft, operator and route
Wikipedia infobox: aircraft type, registration, operator, origin and destination; route airports from the linked airport articles' Wikidata codes (OurAirports)
Operation
Reviewed correction (2026-09-26): A floatplane of a small operator on a charter flight to a remote lake: a charter and bush flight. The article: "On a charter flight from Bissett Water Aerodrome to Family Lake within the Canadian province of Manitoba, a float-equipped De Havilland Canada DHC-3 Turbine Otter of Blue Water Aviation Services crashed."
Fatalities
Wikipedia infobox: aircraft fatalities
Ground fatalities
not stated in the Wikipedia infobox
Summary
Wikipedia article lead
Source notes (1)
  • Wikipedia · Facts from the German Wikipedia article's infobox, translated into English with AI assistance, not checked against an investigation report. Independent review pending.