TSB animation shows details of water bomber crash

Animation released by the Transportation Safety Board of Canada provides a visual depiction of how an overloaded water bomber crashed last year into a Labrador lake.

The TSB reported in late August that the water bomber had taken on too much water during a firefighting exercise in July 2013.

• Water bomber crew took on too much water: TSB crash report

​The TSB's investigation also showed that the pilot was dealing with a crisis in his personal life, and was distracted during the operation by a "distressing" phone call he had previously received.

The water bomber had touched down on Moosehead Lake for a refill. The co-pilot realized a switch had been left in the manual position, which meant that the doors would not close automatically to ensure a safe amount of water was onboard.

When the crew realized what had happened, there was too much water in the storage tanks. The pilot turned left to gather more room for takeoff, but the left wing touched the water.

That broke a bottom section and put the water bomber into a swing, with its nose then heading to the water. The aircraft then came to a rest.

The water bomber was a writeoff.