Date:	Thursday 30 July 2015
Time:	16:09 LT
Type:	Aérospatiale AS 350BA Ecureuil
Owner/operator:	Canadian Helicopters Limited
Registration:	C-GBPS
MSN:	1277
Year of manufacture:	1981
Engine model:	Turbomeca ARRIEL 1B
Fatalities:	Fatalities: 1 / Occupants: 3
Aircraft damage:	Destroyed
Category:	Accident
Location:	Moliak microwave tower site, Rigolet, NL -   Canada
Phase:	Take off
Nature:	Passenger - Non-Scheduled/charter/Air Taxi
Departure airport:	Moliak microwave tower site, Rigolet
Destination airport:	Goose Bay Airport, NL (YYR/CYYR)
Investigating agency:	TSB
Confidence Rating:	Information verified through data from accident investigation authorities

Narrative:
The helicopter crashed crashed while performing work at a comms tower near a hydro site close to Rigolet (CCZ2), Labrador. Police said the helicopter was assisting a Bell Aliant work crew when the incident occurred.

The helicopter lifted off the helipad at the tower site and struck a tower guy wire with the main rotor. It contacted the ground and came to rest on its right side. One passenger sustained fatal injuries. The pilot sustained serious injuries and the other passenger received minor injuries. The helicopter sustained substantial damage; the 406 emergency locator transmitter did not activate. A small amount of fuel was released; there was no post-crash fire.

Findings as to causes and contributing factors

The pilot did not note the outer guy wires and did not include them in the departure plan.
The pilot performed a visual scan before departure; however, the visual scan was not effective in perceiving the outer guy wires.
The pilot's scan had been interrupted, which may have compromised the scan.
The helicopter struck the guy wires before evasive action could be taken, which caused the helicopter to roll rapidly and impact the ground.
The contractor's shoulder belt was found to be misrouted under his left arm, which allowed his upper body to move outside of the cabin in the accident sequence and contributed to his fatal injuries.

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/newfoundland-labrador/one-dead-after-helicopter-crash-in-labrador-1.3174981
https://www.newswire.ca/en/story/1578492/tsb-deploys-a-team-to-the-site-of-a-helicopter-accident-west-of-rigolet-newfoundland-and-Labrador
http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/newfoundland-labrador/1-dead-after-helicopter-crash-in-labrador-2-others-injured-1.3174981
[LINK NOT WORKING ANYMORE:http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/newfoundland-labrador/pete-acreman-from-happy-valley-goose-bay-id-d-as-helicopter-crash-victim-1.3178165http://www.thelabradorian.ca/news/regional/2015/8/6/investigation-continues-into-fatal-helicopter-crash.html]
http://www.bea.aero/fr/enquetes/2015/2015.semaine.31.pdf
http://www.thelabradorian.ca/content/dam/tc/the-labradorian/images/2015/8/6/lab-a00-10082015-helicopter-dm.jpg.imgtransform/ELRH/image.jpg
https://www.flickr.com/photos/tsbcanada/sets/72157656504208509
http://aerossurance.com/helicopters/fatal-to-wire-strike/
CADORS
http://www.tsb.gc.ca/eng/rapports-reports/aviation/2015/A15A0045/A15A0045.asp

#OTD 2015 Fatal AS350 Wire Strike on Take Off from Comms Site: Lack of effective risk assessment and landing site data jump out, as does a casual approach to pre-flight prep. Survivability lessons too.https://t.co/e1Is4jNs6F #helicopter #accident #flightsafety #aviationsafety pic.twitter.com/DjCq3QYOoI

— Aerossurance (@Aerossurance) July 30, 2020

Date/time	Contributor	Updates
31-Jul-2015 09:04	gerard57	Added
31-Jul-2015 15:20	mxcollins	Updated [Operator, Nature, Source]
31-Jul-2015 15:53	gerard57	Updated [Operator]
31-Jul-2015 16:01	Aerossurance	Updated [Aircraft type, Nature, Source]
31-Jul-2015 17:20	harro	Updated [Aircraft type]
01-Aug-2015 06:08	harro	Updated [Registration, Cn, Source, Narrative]
06-Aug-2015 17:21	Aerossurance	Updated [Source, Narrative]
07-Aug-2015 09:35	Aerossurance	Updated [Time, Source, Narrative]
07-Aug-2015 09:50	Aerossurance	Updated [Source]
10-Aug-2015 18:36	Aerossurance	Updated [Source]
22-Sep-2016 12:35	Aerossurance	Updated [Location]
22-Sep-2016 12:37	Aerossurance	Updated [Aircraft type]
30-Nov-2016 14:13	Aerossurance	Updated [Location, Phase, Departure airport, Destination airport, Source, Narrative]
30-Dec-2016 13:22	Aerossurance	Updated [Location, Source]
30-Jul-2020 07:18	Aerossurance	Updated [Embed code]
30-Jul-2020 07:18	Aerossurance	Updated [Location, Embed code]
24-Jan-2024 18:29	harro	Updated [Other fatalities, Destination airport]