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| Date: | Friday 3 January 2025 |
| Time: | 13:25 AST |
| Type: |  Sikorsky S-92A |
| Owner/operator: | Cougar Helicopters |
| Registration: | C-GVCH |
| MSN: | 920080 |
| Year of manufacture: | 2008 |
| Fatalities: | Fatalities: 0 / Occupants: |
| Other fatalities: | 0 |
| Aircraft damage: | Substantial, repaired |
| Category: | Accident |
| Location: | 73 nm SE of St. John's Airport, NL (YYT) -
 Canada
|
| Phase: | En route |
| Nature: | Offshore |
| Departure airport: | St. John's Airport, NL (YYT/CYYT) |
| SeaRose Offshore Floating Production Platform | |
| Investigating agency: | TSB |
| Confidence Rating: |  Information verified through data from accident investigation authorities |
A Cougar Helicopters Sikorsky S-92A was conducting flight CHI881, on an IFR flight from St. John's International Airport (CYYT), NL, towards the SeaRose Offshore Floating Production Platform. While 70 NM offshore from CYYT and in cloud, a loud bang was accompanied by a bright flash, followed by a burning smell and a TR Deice Fail indication. The crew descended to exit icing conditions and to attain VMC. The emergency checklist was carried out, and a PAN PAN was declared. Passengers were briefed, and the aircraft turned back to CYYT and was able to maintain VMC for the remainder of the flight.
The aircraft landed without further incident. There were no injuries reported.
Environment Canada confirmed that a lightning strike occurred on January 3, 2025, at 17:20 UTC. The strike was recorded approximately 135.8 km (73 NM) from CYYT, with coordinates N46.2885, W50.9227. Sikorsky and Cougar Helicopters engineers conducted a joint inspection of the aircraft. The inspection revealed lightning damage to major components, including two main rotor blades, two main rotor yokes, the main rotor deice harness, tail rotor blades, the tail rotor gearbox, and the tail rotor pitch beam. Damaged components were removed and replaced or overhauled per manufacturer procedures. After assessing the strike as low-to-medium severity and confirming the main gearbox (MGB) serviceability, the aircraft was returned to service following successful test flights.
Sources:
TSB A25A0001
History of this aircraft
Other occurrences involving this aircraft
| 19 November 2014 | C-GVCH | Cougar Helicopters Inc. | 0 | 100 NM ESE Halifax (CYHZ) | |
sub |
Revision history:
| Date/time | Contributor | Updates |
|---|---|---|
| 23-Jan-2025 17:50 | ASN | Added |
| 23-Jan-2025 17:54 | ASN | Updated [Location, Phase, Nature, Destination airport, Damage, Narrative, ] |
| 24-Jan-2025 08:34 | Aerossurance | Updated [Nature, ] |
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