R-44 Fatal Accident - Alberta

[golden hawk]

https://edmonton.ctvnews.ca/4-killed-in ... -1.5251284

[karmutzen]

8:50 pm is when the RCMP responded to an ELT. Long ways after sunset, was there a delay? Weather was good though, looking at the Grand Prairie METARS.

[ybp]

Nope. Not much delay... The weather wasnt the greatest either. Lots of scattered snow storms and low cloud in the area.

[rigpiggy]

https://everythinggp.com/2021/01/03/deb ... ter-crash/

[youhavecontrol]

What a terribly sad accident. I feel for those kids

[Heliian]

It's a terrible tragedy for the family, my condolences.

I haven't heard what their flight plan was but it brings back memories of this accident: https://www.bst-tsb.gc.ca/eng/enquetes- ... O0026.html

Wintry night in a VFR helicopter over desolate areas is not a good idea.

[oldncold]

always worry when there is an accident. in that neck of the woods. my daughter. the grand kids are adventuresome in seeking out interesting activities so was anxious until I heard from her . she teaches at the rural school were the2 youngest kid attended and knows the parents they were a family of 7. the 3 oldest kids were not with their parents and siblings at that horrible moment in time of the crash . SO on top of covid, a. community of educators. family are having to come together to help3 young kids make sense of a day that will never have the samemeaning

[pelmet]

"Pilot's decision-making led to helicopter crash that killed 4 family members in northern Alberta"

https://www.msn.com/en-ca/news/canada/p ... a2635a83e3

[karmutzen]

TSB going hang the pilot for a GFA? It is always pessimistic- you'd never fly winter. The TAF at both ends wasn't bad, and the METARS even better. The 182 that took off from the farm strip looking for him didn't seem to have any difficulty getting up, seeing the burning crash from several miles away, and returning to land. Likewise the R66 out of CYQU departed, flew halfway to the crash site and had no difficulty seeing or avoiding the lower stratus. Safe return for him too.

The pilot had just flown from the parking hangar to the north and would have had some idea of the actual weather. Went inadvertent maybe? He had good gear on board with the stratus/iPad. And recent IFR training in airplane.

I would revisit the training aspect and determine why pilots are unable to do a climbing 180 turn followed by a controlled descent. It's in the training syllabus and is tested on the flight test. I'd go further and explore some way of verifying recurrent competency. All you guys out there flying at night should think about it.

[‘Bob’]

No. I’m going with their assessment. It’s one think to poke around a bad GFA during the day. Quite another at night. It could have even been forecast VFR and unsuitable for night flight.

This isn’t even a case of night (clear, moonlit, cityscape) vs NIGHT (no moon, overcast, featureless terrain, precipitation). It was cut and dry below minimums.

[J31]

Collision with terrain Privately registered
Robinson R44 Raven II (Helicopter), C-FBGT
Grande Prairie, Alberta, 39 NM NE
01 January 2021

The RCMP drove from the Spirit River, Alberta, detachment to the accident site, approximately 30 NM away, and arrived on scene at 2158, 2 hours and 4 minutes after the accident. On the way to the accident site, they drove in and out of low cloud. Approximately 1 hour after they arrived on site, occasional precipitation in the form of mixed snow, rain, and freezing rain began to fall.

https://www.tsb.gc.ca/eng/rapports-repo ... W0001.html

[J31]

TSB going hang the pilot for a GFA? It is always pessimistic- you'd never fly winter. The TAF at both ends wasn't bad, and the METARS even better. The 182 that took off from the farm strip looking for him didn't seem to have any difficulty getting up, seeing the burning crash from several miles away, and returning to land. Likewise the R66 out of CYQU departed, flew halfway to the crash site and had no difficulty seeing or avoiding the lower stratus. Safe return for him too.

The pilot had just flown from the parking hangar to the north and would have had some idea of the actual weather. Went inadvertent maybe? He had good gear on board with the stratus/iPad. And recent IFR training in airplane.

I would revisit the training aspect and determine why pilots are unable to do a climbing 180 turn followed by a controlled descent. It's in the training syllabus and is tested on the flight test. I'd go further and explore some way of verifying recurrent competency. All you guys out there flying at night should think about it.

The 182 did not fly over the crash site but immediately headed back to the strip. The pilot of the R66 was flying on top of cloud, at 1500 AGL, at night, finally realized how dumb it was and turned around!

Quoted from the TSB:

"Shortly after the accident, an RHC R66 helicopter departed a private residence to search for the accident site. The pilot of that helicopter noted that during approximately 20 minutes of flying time northeast of CYQU, there was a layer of cloud below him. The helicopter was flying at 1500 feet AGL, and the pilot estimated the cloud layer to be between 800 feet and 1000 feet AGL."

The R44 had the turn coordinator and DG installed so this guy could get his night rating. Then they were removed!

Screwing around night VFR, in snow showers, low cloud, with no pitot heat, is DUMB thing to do.

Sadly this guy and his family perished. It did not have to happen.

[anofly1]

looking to poke your way thru some marginal, or patchy, weather is one thing in the daytime, you can see and avoid the patches. At night, its no place to be, you will only find it when your nav lights start glowing telling you that you are in it. A helicopter with no instruments would be quite a ride with poor visual references....

[cncpc]

Had the pilot survived, he likely would have been charged with criminal negligence causing death.

[SpyPilot]

Had the pilot survived, there could be no worse punishment than having to live the rest of his life with the guilt of having been responsible for the death of his wife and children.

[RatherBeFlying]

For a night rating, pilots should be required to do a night cross country under the hood.

The ones that can't handle it will understand why they should stick with day VFR - or get a TSB report for a tombstone.

[goldeneagle]

For a night rating, pilots should be required to do a night cross country under the hood.

The ones that can't handle it will understand why they should stick with day VFR - or get a TSB report for a tombstone.

The vast majority of folks who get a night rating know about, understand, and respect weather. But you want to put a requirement on the night rating that's more onerous than that required for the instrument rating because of the rare few, and just ignore the fact that those few will figure out ways to kill themselves in spite of all the hurdles you put in front of them to try prevent it.

Do you work at the TSB ?

[CpnCrunch]

In this case they didnt even have the minimum equipment required for vfr night flight because the instruments were removed. Its a little bizarre.

[RatherBeFlying]

But you want to put a requirement on the night rating that's more onerous than that required for the instrument rating

Going from point A to B under the hood is a very small subset of what has to be done to obtain an instrument rating.

When you do lose visual reference in night VFR, it's instrument proficiency that will keep you alive.

[Bug_Stomper_01]

For a night rating, pilots should be required to do a night cross country under the hood.

The ones that can't handle it will understand why they should stick with day VFR - or get a TSB report for a tombstone.

The vast majority of folks who get a night rating know about, understand, and respect weather. But you want to put a requirement on the night rating that's more onerous than that required for the instrument rating because of the rare few, and just ignore the fact that those few will figure out ways to kill themselves in spite of all the hurdles you put in front of them to try prevent it.

Do you work at the TSB ?

No matter the requirements, people will always find a way to put machines into a smoking hole. I agree