1 dead, 1 seriously injured in Northern B.C. helicopter incident

The Smithers Airport, where a fatal incident involving a helicopter occurred on May 6, 2023, is shown in this image. (photo by Asagan at English Wikipedia, used under the creative commons attribution 3.0 unported license, with aspect ratio modified)

One worker died and another was seriously injured while they were doing maintenance on a helicopter in Northern B.C. last weekend, according to federal officials.

Investigators with the Transportation Safety Board were notified of the incident in Smithers on Saturday morning. The helicopter was doing a ground run at the airport when the fatal incident occurred.

“While at flight idle, the helicopter began an uncontrollable yaw and rotated approximately 540 degrees striking two maintenance staff who were on the ground beside the helicopter when it began rotating,” a statement from a spokesperson for the TSB says.

“The pilot was able to cut the fuel to shut down the engine and keep the helicopter upright.”

One person died at the scene and the other was airlifted to hospital, the statement says.

The incident has been classified as a class 4 occurrence, which the TSB says means “the likelihood of identifying new safety lessons and of advancing transportation safety by reducing risks to persons, property, or the environment is low.”

Updates on the investigation will be posted online.