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Campbell River chopper crash mystifies TSB investigators

The cause of a helicopter crash near Campbell River that killed one pilot and injured another last fall remains a mystery.

The cause of a helicopter crash near Campbell River that killed one pilot and injured another last fall remains a mystery.

The Transportation Safety Board of Canada said in a report Monday that it was unable to determine why the ASAP Avionics Services Ltd. Robinson R44 Astro helicopter lost control before colliding with trees and plummeting to the ground.

The board repeated its call for Transport Canada to require commercial and private operators to install lightweight flight recording systems on their aircraft.

Without such recordings, it’s sometimes impossible for the board to discover and highlight possible safety deficiencies, the report said.

The helicopter departed from the Campbell River Airport on Oct. 1 at 3:30 p.m. with two pilots on board. The purpose of the flight was to allow the male pilot in the right-hand seat to demonstrate his ability to conduct slow flight manoeuvres in hopes of landing future employment, the report said.

About 20 minutes later, as the helicopter was approaching the airport, the right-hand pilot transferred control to the pilot on the left. Shortly afterward, the helicopter began to spin, collided with trees and crashed to the ground northwest of the airport.

The female pilot in the left-hand seat was killed, while the male pilot in the right seat was seriously injured.

The surviving pilot was able to call 911 on his personal cellphone about an hour after the crash to initiate a search. Search and rescue officials arrived at the scene an hour later at about 6 p.m.

The safety board found that both pilots were certified and qualified for the flight, that the helicopter was maintained according to regulations and that weather wasn’t a factor in the crash.

“The cause of the loss of control and collision with terrain could not be determined,” the report said.

The names of the pilots were not released.