The lowered left wing of a de Havilland DHC-2 Beaver that blocked the pilot’s view during the turn to final in a busy Canadian harbor and the forward focus of the operator of a water taxi prevented each one from seeing the other and realizing that they were on a collision course, the Transportation Safety Board of Canada (TSB) says.
The TSB said, in its final report on the Oct. 18, 2021, collision in Tofino (British Columbia) harbor that these and other factors affecting visual perception were among the causes and contributing factors to the accident, which resulted in minor injuries to three of the six people in the Tofino Air floatplane and one of the three people on the water taxi. The floatplane was substantially damaged, and the water taxi, the Rocky Pass, sustained minor damage and remained at the scene to transport the DHC-2 pilot to shore.
“The aircraft pilot’s and the vessel operator’s visual perception was affected by several factors, and nei…
