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TSB investigators unable to determine cause of fatal Campbell River helicopter crash
Pilot killed when helicopter hit the ground near airport
CBC News · Posted: Jun 11, 2018 12:02 PM PT | Last Updated: June 11
The Robinson R44 Astro helicopter crashed about a kilometre away from the Campbell River Airport. (Transportation Safety Board)The Transportation Safety Board says investigators have been unable to determine why a helicopter crashed in Campbell River, B.C., in October last year.
One pilot was killed when the ASAP Avionics Services Robinson R44 Astro hit the ground in dense bush near the city's airport.
The helicopter took off from the airport with two pilots on board, according to the TSB report.
The purpose of the flight was to allow one of the pilots to demonstrate his ability to conduct slow flight manoeuvres for potential future employment.
After conducting flight exercises several kilometres away, the aircraft headed back to the airport to conduct hover exercises.
Call for mandatory cockpit data
On the final approach, control of the helicopter was transferred from one pilot to the other, the report said.
The helicoper's flightpath based on aircraft global positioning system data. (Google Earth/Transportation Safety Board)The helicopter began to spin at a slow speed while close to the ground and travelled in a northwesterly direction.
After it gained some altitude, it then struck a tree about a kilometre away from the runway and crashed.
One pilot was killed and the other was seriously injured.
The TSB found both pilots were qualified, the helicopter had been maintained according to regulations, and weather was not a factor.
Investigators could not determine why the pilots lost control and the helicopter collided with terrain, the report said.
The agency is renewing calls for cockpit or data recording devices to be mandatory for commercial and private operators — something that is not currently required.
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Cause of fatal Campbell River helicopter crash undetermined, TSB investigation concludes
By Neetu Garcha Video Journalist Global News
The Transportation Safety Board (TSB) has released a report into the helicopter crash that killed 46-year-old pilot and mother, Karen Coulter (pictured above). GoFundMe
The Transportation Safety Board (TSB) says it can’t determine why a helicopter crashed near the Campbell River airport last fall, killing a 46-year-old woman from Nanaimo.
In an investigation into the Oct. 1, 2017 crash, the TSB concluded both pilots were certified and qualified for the flight, weather conditions were not considered a factor in the fatal crash, and that the helicopter was maintained and certified in accordance with existing regulations.
“The cause of the loss of control and collision with terrain could not be determined,” the report says.
“As this and other occurrences have demonstrated, when cockpit or data recordings are not available to an investigation, the identification and communication of safety deficiencies to advance transportation safety may be precluded.”
The Robinson R44 chopper lost control and crashed into trees a little over a mile from the airport runway in Campbell River around 5 p.m.
The victim of the crash was remembered as a caring and devoted mother by friend Roger Jamieson, who spoke to Global News about a week after the crash.
“She’s so caring and so giving, always happy and always upbeat,” Jamieson said in an October 2017 interview.
He said 46-year-old Karen Coulter, a pilot and single mom, left behind one son.
“She was an amazing person… her son was her whole life,” he said.
In its report, the TSB reiterated a previous recommendation that the Department of Transport make the installation of lightweight flight recording systems mandatory for commercial and private operators, who are not currently required to carry them.
The emergency locator transmitter activated, but the signal wasn’t heard until almost an hour and a half after the aircraft went down.