News release

Today, the Transportation Safety Board of Canada (TSB) released its investigation report (A23W0082) into the fatal 2023 helicopter accident approximately 110 km NE of Peace River in north-central Alberta.

On July 19, 2023, a Bell 205A-1 helicopter operated by Valhalla Helicopters Inc. departed Haig Lake firebase with an empty water bucket on a 150-foot longline. Shortly after liftoff, the helicopter experienced an engine failure. During the emergency descent (autorotation), the water bucket became entangled in trees, and the aircraft impacted the terrain in a nose-down, left-banked attitude. The aircraft was substantially damaged, and the pilot was fatally injured.

The investigation found that a manufacturing defect in the engine’s air diffuser created a localized failure which progressively led to the engine failure.

Although it could not be determined why the water bucket was not released before it became entangled with the trees, the investigation did find that it is common practice for pilots to operate with the cargo release switch in the OFF position, which deactivates the electric cargo release on the collective. This is done to prevent accidental release. While this may reduce risk in routine operations, it increases the difficulty of releasing the load during an emergency. In this occurrence, given that the switch was in the OFF position, it would have been difficult to release the water bucket in the short time between the engine failure and the impact.

Following this occurrence, Valhalla Helicopters Inc. issued a company memo reminding flight crews that the electric cargo release hook be armed for any external load operations and that both the manual and electric releases be checked before the first flight of the day.

See the investigation page for more information.