Vancouver Island Air

Vancouver Island Air is a commercial airline in British Columbia offering scheduled domestic services to 29 destinations with both land-based aircraft and seaplanes.

History
Vancouver Island Air was established in 1966. In 1988, it absorbed Sunshine Coast Air. VIA holds the distinction of being the last remaining operator of the Short Sealand seaplane.

Following two crashes in three months of the type, the remaining Grumman Goose seaplanes were retired in November 2008.

Incidents

 * 8 May 1991: DHC-3 Otter VB-VIJ (c/n 326/1959), operating as Flight VL 215 from Nanaimo to Tofino, crashed near Cameron Lake, about 36 miles northwest of Nanaimo. The pilot made several attempts to proceed west via preferred VFR routes, however, low ceilings prevented him from doing so. He continued south between two mountains, but due to the wind conditions and terrain proximity he decided to turn around. He entered a steep downwind left turn, but the aircraft settled into the trees. The wings separated on contact with trees. The pilot reported that subsiding air was encountered during the turn. The pilot and six passengers sustained minor injuries, the remaining four passengers suffers serious injuries, but all survived.


 * 27 September 1995: Short Sealand VB-SLE (c/n SH.1769/1953), operating as Flight VL 118 from Alert Bay to Campbell River, crashed into a mountainside near Morte Lake on Quadra Island. Approaching Campbell River, the pilot requested and received a special visual flight rules (SVFR) clearance to enter the Campbell River control zone. While on an intercept heading for the final approach and in straight-and-level flight, the aircraft crashed into the mountainside at about the 860-foot level approximately 8.1 miles from Campbell River. The investigation concluded that "the pilot progressively lost situational awareness while attempting to navigate in conditions of low visibility or in cloud and was unaware of the rapidly rising terrain in his flight path. Contributing to this accident were the existing visual flight regulations and the prevailing industry attitudes and practices which did not provide adequate safety margins." The pilot and seven of the nine passengers were killed.


 * 3 August 2008: Grumman Goose VB-GSB (c/n B98/1944) with seven passengers and crew crashed during scheduled Flight VL 66 from Port Hardy to Campbell River. The aircraft was completely destroyed by a fire. There were only two survivors.


 * 16 November 2008: Grumman Goose VB-GSE (c/n B101/1944) with eight passengers and crew crashed on South Thormanby Island near Sechelt off British Columbia's Sunshine Coast in bad weather during scheduled Flight VL 430 from New Westminster to Ucluelet, BC. Only one passenger survived.

Fleet
Vancouver Island Air operates a total of 23 aircraft.


 * DHBC-6 Twin Otter - 7 (1972 to date), floatplanes, two delivered new, two inherited from Sunshine Coast Air, three acquired second-hand from Atlin Airways and converted to floatplanes, to be converted to DHBC-6E eOtter by 2026.
 * Viking DHC-2T Turbo Beaver - 3 (2010 to date), delivered new
 * Dornier SeaStar - 3 (2018 to date), +3 on order to be delivered by 2024; launch customer
 * Embraer EMB-120 - 3 (1989 to date), delivered new, to be retired by 2025
 * Short Sealand - 2 (1988 to date), inherited from Sunshine Coast Air, to be retired by 2024
 * Sukhoi Su-80 - 2 (2019 to date), + 6 on order to be delivered by 2026

Historic

 * DHC-3 Otter - 1 (1984–1991), acquired second-hand
 * Grumman Goose - 6 (1988–2008), inherited from Sunshine Coast Air
 * DHBC-6 Twin Otter - 4 (1966–2015), landplanes, delivered new
 * Short Sealand - 3 (1988–2013), inherited from Sunshine Coast Air

BC-made aircraft
''Note: a green background indicates an aircraft in service, a yellow background indicates a retired aircraft, and a pink background indicates an aircraft lost in an accident.

Routes


Entries with a green background indicates a destination in British Columbia.