Improper control settings contributed to Cat Lake crash

A plane crash about 20 kilometres outside Cat Lake First Nation last year may have been the result of improperly set controls.
The Transportation Safety Board of Canada completed its investigation of the Nov. 6, 2009 crash which claimed the lives of three people.
Pilot Mike Pateman of Dryden, Ont., and passengers Ronald Oombash and Dean Meekis all died in the crash. Oombash and Meekis were youth workers in Cat Lake.
Pateman, who had over 1800 hours of flying experience, was flying a Cessna 310R, operated by Lockhart Air Service, enroute to Cat Lake from Sioux Lookout when the plane went down outside the community.
The investigation revealed that improperly set altimeters may have led the pilot to believe he was flying 1000 feet higher than the aircraft actually was.
Since the flight was arriving at night, the aircraft most likely flew over the airport to determine if the the landing strip was safe for landing. While manoeuvring the plane for approach, the plane turned away from the airport and community and started a descent.
"In total darkness, flying the aircraft away from a lighted community and runway placed the aircraft in a position where the pilot was left without any visual cues that might help him determine his position relative to the ground and increased the risk of collision with terrain," the report said.
The crash site indicated the plane was flying at a level altitude and at a significant speed into rising terrain. Searchers found the crash site two days later.
The report said the type of altimeter used in the plane, a three-pointer display, has greater potential to be misread. With total darkness and lacking visual cues, pilots must entirely depend on altimeters to determine altitude.