News release

Today, the Transportation Safety Board of Canada (TSB) released its investigation report (A23O0046) into a runway overrun involving a passenger aircraft in Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario.

On April 16, 2023, a Porter Airlines De Havilland DHC-8-402 aircraft was flying from Billy Bishop/Toronto City Airport, Ontario to Sault Ste. Marie Airport, Ontario, with 56 people on board. During the hours of darkness in light rain, the aircraft landed at its destination but overran the end of the runway by 350 feet. No one was injured and the aircraft was not damaged.

The investigation found that once the aircraft was over the runway, the flight crew’s focus briefly shifted to other tasks. With limited visual cues available during the night landing, they did not recognize that they were further down the runway than expected when they touched down. As such, full braking was delayed until the aircraft was 850 feet from the runway end, when the captain recognized the runway end lights.

With full brakes applied, the aircraft should have been able to stop within the remaining runway length. However, braking performance was degraded, likely due to the runway surface texture on the last 300 feet of runway and possible air contamination in the hydraulic system.

Following the occurrence, Porter Airlines made several changes to training and enhanced standard operating procedures for landing for its DHC-8-402 flight crews. These included more consideration for touchdown zone awareness, runway surface conditions, braking techniques, and the use of reverse thrust, among other items.

Runway overruns are a Watchlist 2022 safety issue. As this occurrence demonstrates, when a runway overrun occurs during a landing, it is important that the aircraft has an adequate clear space beyond the end of the runway to reduce adverse consequences.

See the investigation page for more information.