Two people walked away after crashing their home-built helicopter near Nanaimo on Tuesday morning.
A Royal Canadian Air Force Buffalo aircraft and a Cormorant helicopter rescued the pair about 35 kilometres west of Nanaimo, near Green Mountain.
“Both occupants had minor injuries and were transferred to Nanaimo by Cormorant helicopter,” said Cpl. Ed Labonte of the Joint Rescue Co-ordination Centre in Victoria. “They didn’t even need an ambulance when they got to Nanaimo.”
The pair had departed from Nanaimo and were heading to a remote location. They were flying a privately owned two-seater, Labonte said.
“The particular model is a home-built helicopter,” he said.
The aircraft’s emergency locator transmitter alerted rescuers to the crash. “It would have been longer if we had to wait for air traffic control, but we learned about the incident through the ELT,” Labonte said.
The cause of the crash is unknown. The Transportation Safety Board is investigating.
Jenny Vallance, a Nanaimo-based commercial helicopter pilot, said she hadn’t heard about the crash. But she said the heat can create conditions that make it harder to take off and land safely.
“There are a lot of thermals at this time of year in the heat. You have the sun heating up the rocks,” Vallance said.
“The hot air lifts and creates a void of air and a low-pressure system, drawing in cooler air around it. So it’s creating winds.”
Canadian Forces spokesman Lt. Paul Pendergast said the pair was dropped off at the Nanaimo airport, which was their request.
