Scudrunners

Winnipeg, Manitoba, 23 March 2022 — Today, the Transportation Safety Board of Canada (TSB) released its investigation report (A21C0088) into a dynamic rollover involving a Bell 206L-1 helicopter near the Hope Bay Aerodrome, Nunavut in September 2021.




The occurrence On 14 September 2021, a Bell 206L-1 helicopter operated by Canadian Helicopters Limited (doing business as Acasta HeliFlight Inc.), was conducting a flight from Hope Bay Aerodrome (CHB3), Nunavut, to a drill camp located 8 nautical miles south-southwest of the aerodrome. Upon landing, the helicopter rolled over.

The pilot, who was the sole occupant, shut down the engine and exited the helicopter uninjured. A person on the ground was fatally injured. See the investigation page for more information.

https://www.tsb.gc.ca/eng/enquetes-investigations/aviation/2021/A21C0088/A21C0088.html

The TSB conducted a limited-scope, fact-gathering investigation into this occurrence to advance transportation safety through greater awareness of potential safety issues

Fairly low time driver.

I dunno. 700+ hours in the 206 is plenty to see all the good and bad.

The narrative states he removed his left hand front the collective (I know guys who fly like they use their right hand, but that’s a inside joke to chopper pilots).
Anywho… he left the aircraft light on the skids to open the door. That’s just dumb.

It’s no surprise he flipped it over.



Maybe it takes 1000 hours to learn you don’t do that

I'll expand my comment to say that over the years, the majority of northern mining or government contracts I've seen, have specified 1,000 hours or more for heli drivers. Along with things like a minimum number of years operating in the Arctic.

Not to say that hours are a direct correlation here, or that this pilot wouldn't have made the same mistake south of 60.

As an aside, when I worked previously at a northern outfit that had helicopters, we sent a guy out on a 1,000 hour contract that didn't meet those minimums. He ended up rolling a 206. The next contract stated 1,500 hours minimum.

Most people don't care that civilian flight training is so incredibly bad, that it's sometimes fatal.