Pilot fatigue, lack of experience cause of fatal plane crash near Greater Sudbury, TSB finds

The Transportation Safety Board of Canada says in a report released today thatpilot inexperience and fatigue are to blame for a plane crash near Sudbury, Ont.,last March that left three people dead.

The plane, which was headed to Salem, North Carolina, was trying to make an emergency landing shortly after take-off from the Greater Sudbury airport.

But, according to the report, during the descent, the aircraft disappeared from the radar.

• Police ID Leo Arseneau, Mary-Lou Arseneau in fatal Sudbury plane crash
• Plane crash south of Sudbury leaves 3 dead

The wreckage of the Piper PA-32was found the next day between the Pickerel River and French River, about 80 km south of Greater Sudbury.

Police identified the pilot last year as64-year-old LeoArseneau.

The TSB investigation report saidthe Sudbury lawyer's qualifications had expired and that he'd flown very little in the period leading up to the accident.

It also noted, "he had been experiencing levels of chronic stress and fatigue, and consequently ... he was neither qualified nor fit to undertake the flight."

"The pilot, who was no longer proficient at flying in instrument meteorological conditions, likely became spatially disoriented after entering cloud in a descending turn, and lost control of the aircraft," the report continued."While in a spiral dive, the wings broke due to extreme forces, causing an in-flight breakup of the aircraft."

Arseneau'swife, 65-year-old Mary-LouArseneau, was also on board.A third person, who friends say was a caregiver, also died in the crash.