Central Mountain Air

Central Mountain Air is a commercial airline in British Columbia offering scheduled domestic and continental services.

Central Mountain Air serves eighteen destinations (fifteen domestic, three continental) in two countries.

History
Central Mountain Air was established 1984, beginning operations that year with two six-passenger Piper Seneca aircraft on services from Hagwilget to Burns Lake, Dease Lake, and Fort St John. In 1994, six Czech-built nineteen-passenger L410UVP twin-props were bought from Interflug of Germany, with which services to Vancouver and Edmonton, Alberta, Canada were begun, and the route network and fleet have expanded slowly but steadily ever since.

The airline has been a partner of Air Canada since 1997, operating as the Canadian flag carrier's BC-based feeder airline.

Incidents

 * 26 September 1989 Swearingen Metro III VB-JCJ (c/n AC-481/1981), operating as Central Mountain Air Flight 9M 070 from Kelowna to Ganiks Laxha, was destroyed on final approach to Northwest Regional Airport Ganiks Laxha. At 08:20 Flight 070 was cleared for an approach to Ganiks Laxha. Seven minutes later, at an altitiude of 1,200 feet above sea level just prior to reaching the Missed Approach Point (MAP), the captain stated, "okay, I've got the button here." Fourteen seconds thereafter the captain saw the button of Runway 27; at the same time, the aircraft was observed on what corresponded to a downwind leg for Runway 15 at 500 feet above ground level flying straight and level over the threshold of Runway 27 with gear extended, crossing the localiser transmitter at an altitude of 1,100 feet ASL at an airspeed of 140 knots. Thirty seconds later, the aircraft commenced a descent from 1,100 feet, and the flaps were lowered to full, after which the aircraft levelled at an altitude of 900 feet. At this time, the aircraft was observed on base leg for Runway 15 at low altitude, close to the east-west ridge about 1.5 miles north of the airport. Twenty-six seconds after full flap was selected, a missed approach was initiated, and the landing gear and flaps were retracted; within five seconds the aircraft began to accelerate, establishing a rate of climb of approximately 1,200 feet per minute. This quickly dropped to zero, followed by the start of a descent that rapidly increased to 3,000 feet per minute. A few seconds later, the aircraft struck trees on the west side of Runway 15 just inside the airport perimeter, followed by a second and final impact with the ground just outside the perimeter approximately 800 feet from the tree-strike point. A fire broke out after impact. Investigators concluded that the crew continued with the approach past the MAP without establishing visual references, and subsequently the aircraft was flown into the ground in a manner consistent with disorientation whilst carrying out the missed approach in IFR conditions. The BC TSB ruled that the inadequacy of the company's operating procedures at the time contributed to the occurence. Both pilots and all seven passengers were killed.

Current

 * Bombardier Dash8 Q400NG 0 + 14 on order, to be delivered 2023–2026 to replace all types other than Il-114 and Piper Seneca
 * Ilyushin Il-114 - 5 (2006 to date)
 * Ilyushin Il-114-100 - 0 + 3 on order, to be delivered 2024–2025
 * Let L410UVP - 4 (1994 to date), acquired second-hand; to be retired by 2026
 * Piper PA-34 Seneca - 2 (1987 to date)
 * Short 360 - 9 (2002 to date), acquired second-hand, four in 2002 (C-23C), two in 2006, three more in 2007; to be retired by 2026

Former

 * Let L410UVP - 2 (1994-2022), acquired second-hand; VB-CMB retired 2021, VB-CME in 2022.
 * Swearingen Metro III - 3 (1987-1995), acquired second-hand

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.