An investigation has found that the weather and mechanical state of the aircraft were not factors in a plane crash that killed the pilot in front of horrified spectators at a 2016 air show in northern Alberta.

In a report released Friday, the Transportation Safety Board said there were no outstanding “defects” noted regarding the maintenance or aircraft logbooks.

“Our evidence did show that the aircraft engine and flight controls appeared to be operating normally prior to the impact,” said Fred Burow, a senior investigator with the board.

Calgary-based pilot Bruce Evans was performing an aerobatic routine with his T-28B Trojan aircraft at the Cold Lake Air Show on July 17, 2016, when something went wrong.

The plane hit the ground vertically at high speed, killing Evans and destroying the plane on impact. There was no fire, and no air show personnel or spectators were injured.

Burrow said the emergency response was “very quick and effective,” and added that preparations for the air show were all carried out properly, ensuring that no spectators were at risk of being injured.

“All the protections that are put in place for air shows, all worked that day,” Burow said. “Everything from the routine the pilot designed for his show, the approvals of that, the approvals of him.”

The accident happened on the second day of the air show, with light winds and just a few clouds at higher elevations. The report notes that  “weather conditions were not considered a factor in the accident.”

A list of the aerobatic manoeuvres to be performed were submitted in advance to the air show operator, but the pilot modified a slow roll manoeuvre planned for about halfway into the performance.

“As the aircraft reached the inverted position, the roll stopped and the nose began to pitch toward the ground,” the report said.

Burow said that change, in itself, wasn’t out of the ordinary. “Because they have a very specific piece of air space they have to perform in, if they’re not set up quite right, they might decide to do one of their manoeuvres earlier or substitute it for a different one,” he said.

“There’s always a lot of factors involved in any accident but we can only go with the facts that we have. Unfortunately we couldn’t  go with a specific cause of why that last manoeuvre was flown the way it was.”

Investigators did look into whether a medical issue could have been a contributing factor in the crash, Burow said. 

The pilot had passed recent medical tests, he added.

Evans an experienced pilot

Evans had accumulated 4,043 flying hours and had performed his routine the day before, on the first day of the annual  air show at CFB Cold Lake, about 300 km northeast of Edmonton.

He had practised the routine on two dates prior to the air show, the first time for just under one hour, and for 1.5 hours the second time.

Although it was the pilot’s first show of the season, he had participated in several events in 2015 without any problems, the report says.

Evans, 59, was born in Marville, France, where his father was stationed with the Royal Canadian Air Force. 

According to his Cold Lake Air Show bio, Evans developed an interest in aviation from an early age. In 2007, he purchased his T-28B Trojan — the plane he was flying at the time of the crash. 

He went to Queen’s University in Kingston, Ont., where he would commute from his hometown of North Bay, Ont., in a Cessna 172 aircraft.

A geologist by trade, Evans was the president and CEO of Firefly Airborne Surveys. The company provided airborne surveys for the mineral and oil and gas sectors, government agencies and special interest groups.