Fatal helicopter crash during 2023 Alberta wildfires linked to manufacturing defect: TSB

A report looking into the cause of a deadly crash involving a helicopter being used to fight wildfires burning in northern Alberta two summers ago has been released and identifies what investigators believe led to the aircraft’s engine to fail.

“The investigation found that a manufacturing defect in the engine’s air diffuser created a localized failure which progressively led to the engine failure,” officials with the Transportation Safety Board of Canada (TSB) said in a news release issued Thursday.

The crash happened about 110 kilometres northeast of Peace River on July 19, 2023, as Alberta was experiencing a record-breaking wildfire season. The helicopter’s pilot, the only person in the aircraft, was killed in the incident.

“There was no post-impact fire,” the TSB said. “The pilot survived the initial impact and was able to egress from the helicopter but later died of his injuries.”

According to investigators, a Bell 205A-1 helicopter, operated by Valhalla Helicopters Inc., left the Haig Lake firebase just after 6 p.m. with an empty water bucket on a 150-foot-long line. Soon after, investigators said the helicopter experienced an engine failure and began an emergency descent or autorotation.

“The water bucket became entangled in trees, and the aircraft impacted the terrain in a nose-down, left-banked attitude,” the TSB said. “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.”

The TSB said that after the crash, Valhalla Helicopters issued a company memo to remind its personnel “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.”

The pilot who died was identified as 41-year-old Ryan Gould, a father to two children who hailed from the Whitecourt area. Shortly after the crash, his wife Carlyn Gould spoke to Global News and said he simply loved flying.

“He had been doing this for over 20 years. He was very experienced in wildfires,” she said. “I call him a hero because in the 20 years of flying fires across Canada, in the U.S., and in Australia, he has kept many crews safe from being taken out in fires.

“He has saved people’s homes and their livelihoods. He has taken care of the people, and not just fought the fires.”

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