An investigation into the fatal flying lesson that killed two people near Chilliwack Lake last April has revealed that the instructor had not been adequately trained or prepared for mountain flying.

“The available flight data indicates that several mountain flying best practices were not fully executed,” reads the report from the Transportation Safety Board (TSB).

The instructor had a commercial flying license and had accumulated 1602 hours of flying time. But TSB said they had only done three training flights for mountainous areas, and these “were not intended to fully prepare the instructor for intentional flight” through these locations. 

There are no regulations in Canada requiring mountain flying training for private or commercial pilots. TSB says it’s incumbent upon pilots and air operators to ensure they’re prepared for such flights.

Transport Canada has provided guidelines on mountain flying, saying pilots should never fly through the middle of a valley because there often isn't enough space to reverse course.

It’s also recommended that pilots flying through a mountainous area should always have an escape route and should never fly over terrain that cannot be outclimbed.

“In this case, the aircraft was approaching rising terrain at an altitude lower than the upcoming terrain,” reads the TSB report. “Although the aircraft was climbing, it did not achieve a safe traversing altitude before entering the valley.”

TSB found there was no evidence that the instructor had received training for course reversal near mountains.

The student pilot had far less experience, having flown a total of 140 hours. It was their last planned fixed-wing training flight for them to receive their instrument rating, which would have allowed them to fly in poor weather conditions.