Coast Guard helicopter crash off CCGS Amundsen
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Coast Guard helicopter crash off CCGS Amundsen
Crap oh crap...... http://www.thetelegram.com/News/Local/2 ... n-Arctic/1
What a dangerous job we have...
What a dangerous job we have...
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Re: Coast Guard helicopter crash off CCGS Amundsen
We used to handle all the crew changes for the Amundsen while I was in YEV. I got to know many of the crew and I know two of the helicopter pilots from this ship. They have an incredibly challenging job working in that part of the world, and i`m hoping for a positive outcome.
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Re: Coast Guard helicopter crash off CCGS Amundsen
Oh crap.
If anyone hears names a PM would be greatly appreciated, I have a number of friends in the CG.
Condolences to everyone at the CG and the families of those affected.
If anyone hears names a PM would be greatly appreciated, I have a number of friends in the CG.
Condolences to everyone at the CG and the families of those affected.
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Re: Coast Guard helicopter crash off CCGS Amundsen
Names are in the cbc news report.
So sorry to here this news.
So sorry to here this news.
Re: Coast Guard helicopter crash off CCGS Amundsen
Met up with the crew of the Admundsen while working through some of the hamlets in Nunavut. They came off as a really tight-knit, professional group who still had time to chat with civilians like myself; I have the highest level of respect for their work.
My heart goes out to them and the families.
My heart goes out to them and the families.
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Re: Coast Guard helicopter crash off CCGS Amundsen
Oh dear, what horrible news, not only for the families and friends of the victims but for the other officers and men on the ship, having to bring her home without her Captain. Nothing could be more horrible for the crew. This is just awful.
Re: Coast Guard helicopter crash off CCGS Amundsen
I know sometimes they take the chopper out for "ice inspection" and have quite some "fun" while doing it. I hope this wasn't one of those time that went bad.
Very sad none the less.
Very sad none the less.
Re: Coast Guard helicopter crash off CCGS Amundsen
Would this have been a Bolkow?
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Re: Coast Guard helicopter crash off CCGS Amundsen
The commanding officer of one of Canada’s Coast Guard icebreakers is dead after an Arctic helicopter crash in frigid northern waters that claimed three lives.
Marc Thibault, captain of the CCGS Amundsen, was killed along with pilot Daniel Dubé and scientist Klaus Hochheim Monday night after their helicopter plunged into the McClure Strait off Banks Island in the western Arctic.

Photo Ronald Santerre/Flickr
C-GCFU MBB Bo 105S-CDN-BS-4
Globe and Mail Click Here
They had been scouting the sea ice to determine the best route for the Amundsen, a research vessel carrying scientists taking myriad measurements of the Northern environment. The expedition was in the most remote part of the Arctic, more than 600 kilometres away from Resolute, Nunavut, where Canada maintains a logistics base for research in the region.
The tragedy that has hit Canada’s premier research platform in the Arctic underlines the risks of operating in such an unforgiving environment.
The crash occurred about 8 p.m. (ET) Monday and Coast Guard staff say the weather was clear with good visibility at the time.
The Amundsen, which had been following the helicopter, reached the crash site later that evening and retrieved three bodies from the 420-metre-deep water, but did not find the chopper. The Coast Guard would not discuss theories on why the aircraft crashed, and the federal Transportation Safety Board is now investigating.
The accident brings the death toll for Coast Guard employees to 13 in the last quarter century. But Mario Pelletier, assistant commissioner of the Canadian Coast Guard for the central and Arctic region, said to lose so many people at once is “very rare.”
He said the loss has hit the expedition hard because people live in close quarters, like a family. The Amundsen is heading to Resolute so authorities can decide whether to cancel the mission. The ship was not due to return to its home port of Quebec City until mid-October.
Michael Byers, an Arctic expert at the University of British Columbia who’s travelled on the CCGS Amundsen twice, said the Arctic water is deadly.
“The helicopter pilots are very explicit with their passengers that if they have to do an emergency landing, you must not get wet,” Mr. Byers said. “Even in a survival suit … your survival time is limited.”
The expedition, a regular undertaking, gathers data on Arctic conditions drawing on everything from fish to snow, ice and water salinity.
“It’s a 360-degree collection exercise. It’s the equivalent of Canada’s lunar lander and the environment is almost as hostile as the moon,” Mr. Byers said. He’s a project leader with ArcticNet, the consortium that manages the Amundsen’s scientific program.
Mr. Thibault had worked for the Coast Guard for 29 years. Mr. Hochheim, a veteran Arctic scientist affiliated with the University of Manitoba, was a respected climatologist and research associate with the Centre for Earth Observation Science (CEOS). Mr. Hochheim leaves behind a wife and three children. The pilot, Mr. Dubé, had flown a Coast Guard helicopter for 28 years.
Prime Minister Stephen Harper offered condolences Tuesday, calling the accident “a grim reminder of the very real dangers faced on a regular basis by those brave individuals who conduct research and patrol our Arctic – one of the harshest and most challenging climates in the world.”
The RCMP will meet the Amundsen as it carries the three bodies to Resolute, and counselling staff will meet the crew and scientists to offer support.
Martin Fortier, executive director of ArcticNet, worked with all three victims many times. Everyone is in shock, he said.
“Those three people were just great people,” Fortier said, his voice cracking. “[My] favourite captain, favourite pilot and Klaus was a great person, too.”
Marc Thibault, captain of the CCGS Amundsen, was killed along with pilot Daniel Dubé and scientist Klaus Hochheim Monday night after their helicopter plunged into the McClure Strait off Banks Island in the western Arctic.

Photo Ronald Santerre/Flickr
C-GCFU MBB Bo 105S-CDN-BS-4
Globe and Mail Click Here
They had been scouting the sea ice to determine the best route for the Amundsen, a research vessel carrying scientists taking myriad measurements of the Northern environment. The expedition was in the most remote part of the Arctic, more than 600 kilometres away from Resolute, Nunavut, where Canada maintains a logistics base for research in the region.
The tragedy that has hit Canada’s premier research platform in the Arctic underlines the risks of operating in such an unforgiving environment.
The crash occurred about 8 p.m. (ET) Monday and Coast Guard staff say the weather was clear with good visibility at the time.
The Amundsen, which had been following the helicopter, reached the crash site later that evening and retrieved three bodies from the 420-metre-deep water, but did not find the chopper. The Coast Guard would not discuss theories on why the aircraft crashed, and the federal Transportation Safety Board is now investigating.
The accident brings the death toll for Coast Guard employees to 13 in the last quarter century. But Mario Pelletier, assistant commissioner of the Canadian Coast Guard for the central and Arctic region, said to lose so many people at once is “very rare.”
He said the loss has hit the expedition hard because people live in close quarters, like a family. The Amundsen is heading to Resolute so authorities can decide whether to cancel the mission. The ship was not due to return to its home port of Quebec City until mid-October.
Michael Byers, an Arctic expert at the University of British Columbia who’s travelled on the CCGS Amundsen twice, said the Arctic water is deadly.
“The helicopter pilots are very explicit with their passengers that if they have to do an emergency landing, you must not get wet,” Mr. Byers said. “Even in a survival suit … your survival time is limited.”
The expedition, a regular undertaking, gathers data on Arctic conditions drawing on everything from fish to snow, ice and water salinity.
“It’s a 360-degree collection exercise. It’s the equivalent of Canada’s lunar lander and the environment is almost as hostile as the moon,” Mr. Byers said. He’s a project leader with ArcticNet, the consortium that manages the Amundsen’s scientific program.
Mr. Thibault had worked for the Coast Guard for 29 years. Mr. Hochheim, a veteran Arctic scientist affiliated with the University of Manitoba, was a respected climatologist and research associate with the Centre for Earth Observation Science (CEOS). Mr. Hochheim leaves behind a wife and three children. The pilot, Mr. Dubé, had flown a Coast Guard helicopter for 28 years.
Prime Minister Stephen Harper offered condolences Tuesday, calling the accident “a grim reminder of the very real dangers faced on a regular basis by those brave individuals who conduct research and patrol our Arctic – one of the harshest and most challenging climates in the world.”
The RCMP will meet the Amundsen as it carries the three bodies to Resolute, and counselling staff will meet the crew and scientists to offer support.
Martin Fortier, executive director of ArcticNet, worked with all three victims many times. Everyone is in shock, he said.
“Those three people were just great people,” Fortier said, his voice cracking. “[My] favourite captain, favourite pilot and Klaus was a great person, too.”
Re: Coast Guard helicopter crash off CCGS Amundsen
Maybe I didn't make myself clear before my post was deleted. If you're going to make a speculation like that throw out some backing for that. Another friend of mine is on the list of dead pilots I know.Go Juice wrote:I know sometimes they take the chopper out for "ice inspection" and have quite some "fun" while doing it. I hope this wasn't one of those time that went bad.
Very sad none the less.
How does this get through the delete-sifter?
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Re: Coast Guard helicopter crash off CCGS Amundsen
It bothers me that they died of hypothermia after only an hour in survival suits.
- Are the suits adequate?
- Can they be closed up in the water if comfort requires keeping them unzipped in the cockpit?
- Will they still do the job if some water got in before they were zipped up?
Re: Coast Guard helicopter crash off CCGS Amundsen
I must have missed a post or report. Has hypothermia been officially determined as cause of death? (Despite the circumstantial evidence...)RatherBeFlying wrote:It bothers me that they died of hypothermia after only an hour in survival suits.
- Are the suits adequate?
- Can they be closed up in the water if comfort requires keeping them unzipped in the cockpit?
- Will they still do the job if some water got in before they were zipped up?
Re: Coast Guard helicopter crash off CCGS Amundsen
Coast guard helicopter crash victims died of hypothermia
3 survived crash, but died in cold waters of Arctic Ocean
CBC News Last Updated: Sep 17, 2013 8:45 PM CT
Three men who died when a Canadian Coast Guard helicopter plunged into the Arctic Ocean last week were not killed by the crash but died of hypothermia, according to a preliminary post-mortem.
Cathy Menard, Northwest Territories chief coroner, said the results revealed the three men were not seriously injured in the crash.
Menard said it is believed Marc Thibault, the commander of the Amundsen, Daniel Dubé, the helicopter pilot, and Klaus Hochheim, a researcher studying sea ice, were in the water for an hour before rescuers pulled them out. All three were wearing survival suits.
The helicopter, a Messerschmitt BO 105S, was doing a reconnaissance mission on the state of the ice in the area when it crashed in the McClure Strait, about 600 kilometres west of Resolute.
Menard said the helicopter was just minutes away from the Amundsen when the ship lost radio contact.
"At first they were trying to call them back to see if they could reach them on the radio as well, so it was probably about an hour. But that's part of the investigation that we're trying to work out, is the timeline from when the last contact was made with the helicopter to when they were found."
The McClure Strait is north of Banks Island on the opposite side of the island from Sachs Harbour, N.W.T.
Menard said the bodies of the three men could be returned to their families as soon as Wednesday.
Transportation Safety Board investigators are trying to retrieve the helicopter.
Re: Coast Guard helicopter crash off CCGS Amundsen
Thank you CD. Anyone knows how the survival suits used compare to others such as the famously thick, lined and sealed poopysuits used by SeaKing crews?
Re: Coast Guard helicopter crash off CCGS Amundsen
They have found the helicopter.
http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/north/cra ... -1.1866381
More photos at
http://www.flickr.com/photos/tsbcanada
http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/north/cra ... -1.1866381
More photos at
http://www.flickr.com/photos/tsbcanada
Re: Coast Guard helicopter crash off CCGS Amundsen
It looks like the floats were not deployed.
ETTW
ETTW
Re: Coast Guard helicopter crash off CCGS Amundsen
Float bags are defiantly not inflated. Looks like it went in really hard.
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Re: Coast Guard helicopter crash off CCGS Amundsen
TSB has posted more pictures. They have recovered the wreckage onto the deck of the Amundsen.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/tsbcanada/9949832474/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/tsbcanada/9949832474/
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Re: Coast Guard helicopter crash off CCGS Amundsen
I can't imagine what it must feel like for her crew, having that thing sitting on the helipad. I wonder that they didn't have the other ship do the recovery. I would find it difficult to do my job under those circumstances. Hopefully they changed the crew while she was at Resolute. My feelings are with the crew of the Amundsen. Horrible to lose a crewmate; even worse when it's the Captain.
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Re: Coast Guard helicopter crash off CCGS Amundsen
Well said and agreed. Knowing the crew as I did and the Captain, I am certain this is a very difficult journey for them...but one they felt they wanted and needed to do for their fallen Captain and crew mates. I do believe just from a logistics standpoint and knowing the rotation of the crew, that they very likely did a crew change in Resolute. A bit more difficult than it was in YEV to move everyone, but Borek & maybe First Air or Cdn North would have got it done.frozen solid wrote:I can't imagine what it must feel like for her crew, having that thing sitting on the helipad. I wonder that they didn't have the other ship do the recovery. I would find it difficult to do my job under those circumstances. Hopefully they changed the crew while she was at Resolute. My feelings are with the crew of the Amundsen. Horrible to lose a crewmate; even worse when it's the Captain.
Tragic accident and my most sincere condolences to the 3 people lost, their families & friends...and of course the entire crew of the Amundsen. They are a tight knit group who spends months at sea together in the most challenging conditions in the world. They cant help but become family in that situation.
Re: Coast Guard helicopter crash off CCGS Amundsen
Thanks for the link Old Man. I've had my first of several reads. This report contains some really important learning information on several themes. I'll be circulating it in my aviation community, and beyond that.
The most experienced, well trained, and well equipped crew made several errors which added up to fatality.
Everyone who flies over Canadian water should be familiar with the relevant sections of this report!
The most experienced, well trained, and well equipped crew made several errors which added up to fatality.
Everyone who flies over Canadian water should be familiar with the relevant sections of this report!