A. D. Williams Engineering crashes

The A.D. Williams Engineering crashes were two fatal crashes of small aircraft owned by the Edmonton based firm of A.D. Williams Engineering exactly five months apart in 2007 and 2008. Williams became the chair of the Association of Consulting Engineers of Canada in 2004.

Piper Malibu crash

A.D. Williams' Piper Malibu was a corporate single-engine turboprop airplane servicing the Edmonton, Alberta based engineering firm A.D. Williams Engineering. On 28 March 2008 the plane was enroute to Winnipeg, Manitoba from Edmonton's City Centre Airport flown by the company's president, Reagan Williams, Allen's son. Also aboard were the new CFO, the director of Business Integration, and two contractors.

The flight disappeared from radar at 8:12am north of the town of Wainwright, Alberta. Its wreckage would later be discovered 12 km northeast of Wainright. All five persons aboard were killed. Accident investigators know from the 3 km long debris field that the plane broke up in mid air but not why it did so. The pilot reported a failed gyroscope about eight minutes before air traffic control lost contact. Investigators made a preliminary determination that the Piper was spinning when it lost its wings, spreading them on a 4 km radius from the main impact site.

Williams' PA-46 was modified with a JetProp gas turbine engine conversion to permit a 27,000 foot cruise altitude. Peter Garrison of has commented on the high number of PA-46 crashes. Amongst less than 1000 PA-46's built there have been 162 accidents, 58 fatal, and a number of them in-flight breakups. At one point there had been seven such bad-weather Malibu breakups in twenty-two months.

Days after the Malibu crash, the firm was advertising for the recruitment of Senior Forensic Engineers, although they had been engaged in the field for several years.

Fatalities
*Phil Allard, - Chief financial officer. Died in the 28 March 2008 crash.
*Trevor Korol, 36 - Contractor. Died in the 28 March 2008 crash.
*Rhonda Quirke, - Director, Business Integration and Strategy. Died in the 28 March 2008 crash.
*Shaun Stewart, 35 - Contractor. Died in the 28 March 2008 crash.
*Steven Sutton, 49 - Chief financial officer. Died in the 28 October 2007 crash.
*Allen Dale Williams, 65 - Founder. Died in the 28 October 2007 crash.
*Reagan Stuart Williams, 41 - President. Died in the 28 March 2008 crash.

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