A helicopter crash that killed the pilot in Jervis Inlet three years ago was caused by a mechanical failure, according to the Transportation Safety Board (TSB).
On October 4, 2021, Black Tusk Helicopter Incorporated was doing heli-logging work in Jervis Inlet on the Sunshine Coast with a twin-rotor helicopter, transporting logs from a cut block and dropping them in an ocean pen. In the early afternoon, shortly after making a drop, the helicopter crashed into the water and the pilot was killed.
The investigation found that a mechanical failure led to the rotors being out of balance, and eventually colliding with each other.
“This led to the collision between a blade on the left rotor and a blade on the right rotor that resulted in the in-flight breakup of the rotor system,” the report says.
The TSB says the investigation was unable to locate and recover the entire helicopter, which sank in the ocean and was partially recovered eight days later with the help of a submersible, RCMP, and the Coast Guard.
“In this occurrence, there were no eyewitnesses or on-board recorded flight data, and the investigation was unable to locate and recover the entire helicopter,” says the report. “As a result, the investigation’s engineering analysis became predicated on working backwards from the debris field distribution, main rotor blade contact and interactions, and the damage to the aircraft.”
The report found no reasons to implicate the pilot in the crash. It did note that since the crash the manufacturer has amended maintenance instructions to include a visual inspection before each flight of the part which failed.
