Photo: TSB says pilot errors, poor communication, caused Resolute Bay crash

At a March 25 news conference in Ottawa, Brian MacDonald, lead investigator for the Transportation Safety Board’s investigation into the Aug. 20, 2011 crash of First Air flight 6560 at Resolute Bay, explains how a slight bit of pressure on the airplane’s control wheel can override the plane’s autopilot and change piloting modes, something investigators say happened just minutes before the airplane crashed into a hillside about a mile east of the runway. Neither the pilot nor the first officer realized the piloting mode had been changed and went about trying to figure out how far off course they were and whether the Boeing 737-200 combi jet would right itself. By the time a warning alarm sounded that they were getting close to the ground, it was too late to pull up. See more later on nunatsiaqonline.ca. (PHOTO BY LISA GREGOIRE)