Helijet extreme lightning strike

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boeingboy
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Helijet extreme lightning strike

Post by boeingboy »

A Helijet S-76 experienced a lightning strike yesterday about 10 min after they took off from Victoria on their way to Vancouver. They turned around and landed safe. They were in IMC at 4000 feet and then a big bang, the autopilot disconnected and they reportedly lost all EFIS. It pitched down and rolled right. They were able to recover below the cloud deck at 1300 feet. The damage was severe losing 2 tail rotor blades, a hole in the LH engine cowl, a chunk of horizontal stab missing and the TR driveshaft cover damaged. They were lucky lucky people.

https://globalnews.ca/news/10046954/b-c ... ng-strike/


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hj1.jpg (88.67 KiB) Viewed 3268 times
hj2.jpg
hj2.jpg (158.12 KiB) Viewed 3267 times
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TeePeeCreeper
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Re: Helijet extreme lightning strike

Post by TeePeeCreeper »

boeingboy wrote: Wed Oct 25, 2023 7:45 pm A Helijet S-76 experienced a lightning strike yesterday about 10 min after they took off from Victoria on their way to Vancouver. They turned around and landed safe. They were in IMC at 4000 feet and then a big bang, the autopilot disconnected and they reportedly lost all EFIS. It pitched down and rolled right. They were able to recover below the cloud deck at 1300 feet. The damage was severe losing 2 tail rotor blades, a hole in the LH engine cowl, a chunk of horizontal stab missing and the TR driveshaft cover damaged. They were lucky lucky people.

https://globalnews.ca/news/10046954/b-c ... ng-strike/



hj1.jpg

hj2.jpg
Holy shit balls!😳

I wonder if the employer will kindly issue this crew with new underwear….

TPC
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digits_
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Re: Helijet extreme lightning strike

Post by digits_ »

I bet if they had a couple more static wicks they would have been totally fine
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karmutzen
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Re: Helijet extreme lightning strike

Post by karmutzen »

What makes it "extreme"? Not their first lightning strike.

Early morning lightning is unusual - they left Vancouver Harbor at 910, would have been over the Gulf Islands about 20 minutes later.

I wonder:
What it was like to lose APs and EFIS IMC in a CB. Did they revert to the standby horizon and analog A/S and ALT?

How did they know where to break cloud when they lost all nav? They broke out at 1300, could have been lower, those hills in the islands are up to 2000' as Leon Guenard found out in that DC3. Did they use (the horror) an iPad?

Why not divert to nearby YYJ, with long wide runways, fire rescue, maintenance? Did everything work normally after the strike?

Full load, gross weight, what was it like countering the rotor torque at 90% on a tiny helipad with half a tail rotor? Was there a "this seems like a bad idea" moment?
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FL030
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Re: Helijet extreme lightning strike

Post by FL030 »

Pilots are mission oriented. If they can't get to their destination the next best thing is back to origin. We see this time and again with helicopters falling out of the sky instead of conducting an off field landing and just getting on the ground.
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Maynard
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Re: Helijet extreme lightning strike

Post by Maynard »

karmutzen wrote: Thu Oct 26, 2023 8:34 am

Why not divert to nearby YYJ, with long wide runways, fire rescue, maintenance? Did everything work normally after the strike?
They departed CYYJ and returned to CYYJ.
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goldeneagle
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Re: Helijet extreme lightning strike

Post by goldeneagle »

Maynard wrote: Thu Oct 26, 2023 10:08 am They departed CYYJ and returned to CYYJ.
So how did it get to the harbor for taking the photo linked above ?
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viccoastdog
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Re: Helijet extreme lightning strike

Post by viccoastdog »

Maynard wrote: Thu Oct 26, 2023 10:08 am
karmutzen wrote: Thu Oct 26, 2023 8:34 am

Why not divert to nearby YYJ, with long wide runways, fire rescue, maintenance? Did everything work normally after the strike?
They departed CYYJ and returned to CYYJ.
No it didn't. It departed Vancouver Harbour at 0911 bound for Victoria Harbour, and neither one of those is YYJ. 4000' is the IFR altitude for that direction of flight.
https://www.timescolonist.com/local-new ... ke-7731838
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oldncold
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Re: Helijet extreme lightning strike

Post by oldncold »

From the pic you can see the tail rotor blades that were left. Are opposite to each other. Rendering the tail rotor. Balance not great but would have been catastrophic if they were side by side tail rotor effectivness would been like a bh206. .
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T-bag
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Re: Helijet extreme lightning strike

Post by T-bag »

I believe the pilots didn’t know the damage at the time. We were southbound south of Active Pass at the time and saw the lightning hit Pender Island but didn’t hear the Helijet as they were with Terminal and we were with Victoria Tower. We told tower of the strike and 2 other company aircraft saw it as well. The cloud bases look about 1300’. We were at 1000’ at the time.
I had beers with YYJ controllers the next evening and they were aware of the situation (of the lightning strike) and made the airport available but the Helijet decide to continue as they were most likely unaware to the extent of the damage. My Environment Canada buddy said the strike was 3 times as powerful as the average lightning strike. There was apparently only 2 lightning strikes recorded that day in the whole lower mainland area.
Anyways they did an awesome job to get the machine on the ground and the passengers to their destination. No refunds required!
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T-bag
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Re: Helijet extreme lightning strike

Post by T-bag »

I believe the pilots didn’t know the damage at the time. We were southbound south of Active Pass at the time and saw the lightning hit Pender Island but didn’t hear the Helijet as they were with Terminal and we were with Victoria Tower. We told tower of the strike and 2 other company aircraft saw it as well. The cloud bases look about 1300’. We were at 1000’ at the time.
I had beers with YYJ controllers the next evening and they were aware of the situation (of the lightning strike) and made the airport available but the Helijet decide to continue as they were most likely unaware to the extent of the damage. My Environment Canada buddy said the strike was 3 times as powerful as the average lightning strike. There was apparently only 2 lightning strikes recorded that day in the whole lower mainland area.
Anyways they did an awesome job to get the machine on the ground and the passengers to their destination. No refunds required!
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pelmet
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Re: Helijet extreme lightning strike

Post by pelmet »

From TSB.....

C-GXHJ, a Helijet International Incorporated Sikorsky S-76C++ operating as flight JBA705, was
conducting a flight from Vancouver / Harbour Heliport (CBC7), BC, to Victoria Harbour Heliport
(CBF7), BC, with 2 flight crew and 12 passengers onboard. During cruise flight, the aircraft was
struck by lightning and entered an uncontrolled descent. The pilot-in-command regained control of
the aircraft following a loss of approximately 2900 vertical feet. The aircraft continued the flight to
CBF7 and landed without further incident. There were no reported injuries. The aircraft was
substantially damaged.
The post-landing inspection revealed that 2 tail rotor blades had separated from the helicopter and
there was impact damage found on the main rotor blades, the left horizontal stabilizer and the left
engine cowl. The aircraft was disassembled to the degree necessary for ground transport to a
hangar at Vancouver International Airport (CYVR), BC for detailed examination.
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