Gusty winds, pilot error led to 2016 seaplane crash in Northern B.C.

Nurse Erin Wiltsewas one of the six passengers on board the float plane that left Prince RupertonMay 24, 2016.

She along with two other nurses, Heather Pastulovic and Shari McNiven,were headed to the small First Nations community of Kitkatlato work at aremote nursing station when the 20-minute flight operated by Inland Air Ltd. crashed into the oceanupon landing.

"It was a really hard land. It was a big boom, and it was if you can imagine, the two tips of the wings were teeter-tottering. Each wing bouncing of the water, we hit about three times,teeter-tottering side to side," Wiltse recalls.

It was frightening. Itwas dark. We couldn't see. We were trapped inside a sinking float plane.- ErinWiltse, passenger

"That's the moment I was like, oh my God, this isn't right," she said,"I need to get myself out of here, I'm going to die,"

The TSB said the right float support collapsed from the side-to-side bouncingand the plane thencapsized, with water rapidly flooding into the cabin.

"It was frightening. Itwas dark. We couldn't see. We were trapped inside a sinking float plane," recalls Wiltse.

"The windows were bolted on, we couldn't get the doors open," she said.

They escaped through the back cargo hatch, which two other passenger Clayton Hill and Randy Robinson, bothfrom the Kitkatla community, kicked out.

They managed to do so despite Robinson losing his glasses and hearing aid and Hill unable to swim and terrified of flying.

The three receiveda silver medal for bravery from the Life Saving Society of BC/Yukon for their heroic efforts last March.

All seven occupantsone pilot and six passengers escaped the aircraft and were rescued by local boaters immediately, said the report.

But both Wiltse and McNiven say the escape was more dramatic than the TSB report states.

"There was a good fiveminutes of struggling inside. People screaming, people fighting for their lives," said Wiltse.

McNiven said the report and somenews articles have downplayed that the plane was under water with passengers trapped inside.

"It was a horrific accident. Itmakes it sound like it was rough landing and we had to jump out of a plane into a boat," said McNiven.

It was the first time McNiven had been on a float plane and will likely be her last, she said.

She is still recovering from a spinal injury.

Wiltse said all the passengers on board the aircraft suffered some kind of physical injury, not to mentionmental health issues.

"There isn't asingle one of us without out it. You don't walk away from something like that thinking you're going to die without some form of PTSD," said Wiltse.

'Fault in safety briefing'

TheTSBreport also stated that none of the passengers werewearing personal flotation devices and norwere they required to by regulation.

The safety board concluded that four of the ten most frequently cited factors in seaplane crashesapplied in this case including wind conditions, aircraft control and landing area selection.

The report also found fault in the safety briefing given to passengers before take-off.

"The location of available exitswas not included in the briefing. The pilot also did not confirm that the occupants understand their role in the event of an emergency," read theTSBreport.

Wiltse said she doesn't recall any safety briefing at all.

"It wouldn't have prevented the accident, but it could have prepared people better for what happened," she said.

CBCnews contacted Inland Air Ltd. for comment, but has not yet heard back.