Canadian Coast Guard Messerschmitt Bolkow-Blohm Bo-105 helicopter, C-GCFU: Fatal accident occurred September 09, 2013 in M'Clure Strait, Northwest Territories

Daniel Dubé 

 CCGS Amundsen Helicopter Pilot

Marc Thibault
 Commanding Officer of the CCGS Amundsen 

Dr. Klaus 
Hochheim ArcticNet Scientist

Helicopter crash in Arctic in 2013 probably caused by lack of visual cues: TSB



QUEBEC - The Transportation Safety Board of Canada says a strong probability of a lack of visual cues to judge altitude caused the crash of a Canadian Coast Guard helicopter that killed three people in 2013.

It had been stationed on the icebreaker Amundsen, which was sailing through M'Clure Strait in the western Arctic in September 2013 as part of a regular program of scientific study.

Those who died were Marc Thibault, commanding officer of the ship; helicopter pilot Daniel Dube; and Klaus Hochheim, a veteran University of Manitoba Arctic scientist.

In a report released in Quebec City today, the TSB said its investigation found a strong probability that a lack of visual cues to judge altitude, combined with the possibility of pilot distraction, resulted in the loss of altitude and the collision with the water.

The report also states the search and rescue operation from the Amundsen was delayed, as the vessel's crew was inadequately trained to use and interpret information from the system that tracks flights.

The helicopter was not equipped with a flight data recorder or cockpit voice recorder and was not required to. The TSB says investigators would have been able to better understand the circumstances that led to the accident had the aircraft been equipped with these systems.

- Source: http://www.coastreporter.net

The occurrence 

On 9 September 2013, the CCG helicopter, operating from the CCG vessel Amundsen on an ice reconnaissance mission in the M'Clure Strait north of Banks Island, Northwest Territories, struck the water and sank. The three persons on board were fatally injured. On 25 September 2013, the helicopter wreckage was recovered from the Arctic Ocean

http://www.tsb.gc.ca 

CCGS Amundsen Helicopter Crash: http://www.arcticnet.ulaval.ca