Overview
A Bell 206L-3 Longranger helicopter (serial number 45295) was involved in an accident while conducting filming operations for a television commercial depicting extreme sports. The helicopter, equipped with a nose-mounted camera, was occupied by the pilot, the film director, and two camera persons. The accident occurred at approximately 1715 Pacific daylight time in the area of Llewellyn Glacier in northern British Columbia.
Accident Sequence
The helicopter departed Whitehorse, Yukon, at about 0730 and flew to Atlin, British Columbia, before proceeding to the Llewellyn Glacier staging area. Other filming and preparatory work were completed before aerial filming began at about 1640. The helicopter took off with all four occupants. An ice climber was dropped off on a serac by another helicopter and was to be filmed by the nose-mounted camera on the accident helicopter. The film director was seated in the front left seat next to the pilot, with the camera controls in front of him.
After a few passes over the ice climber at a height of about 50 feet, the helicopter landed and the camera lens was changed to a 10-millimetre wide-angle lens. This lens required close proximity to terrain and the actor. On a filming pass just before the accident, the actor/ice climber reported the helicopter was uncomfortably close, about five feet overhead, at high speed.
The accident fly-pass was intended as a set-up pass for the camera. The actor was looking at the helicopter approaching from a different heading. The helicopter was flying below the serac tops, in the crevasses, at high speed. The main rotor struck a serac about 100 metres away from the actor. One main rotor blade broke, and the helicopter careened into the ice wall of a perpendicular crevasse about 50 metres from the initial impact. The helicopter broke apart explosively, caught fire, and tumbled into the crevasse.
Investigation
The impact forces were not survivable. Rescue and recovery personnel determined there were no survivors and that recovery would present high risk. The following day, recovery was deemed too dangerous due to shifting ice and the unrecognizable state of the main fuselage. The helicopter was not recovered.
Investigators surveyed the site from the air. The mark on the serac where the main rotor first made contact was consistent with an advancing main rotor blade in level flight at constant or accelerating speed. Marks on the ice wall at a similar height indicated abnormal bending of a main rotor blade. The helicopter flew over a serac between the two impact marks. In the crevasse below the second mark were engine cowling pieces, an apparently intact engine, the tail rotor, and tail section and skid gear pieces. The main rotor assembly was still attached to the mast but separated from the main transmission. One full-length blade was stabbed into the ice; the opposing blade was missing except for about two feet from the grip.
The weather in the area featured a high-pressure system with clear skies and light to moderate wind. The pilot was the chief pilot for Trans North Turbo Air Limited and had flown 8.7 hours in June, most in the accident helicopter. He had extensive experience in film industry operations. Another pilot with film expertise was initially planned for the shoot, but due to complications, the accident pilot and helicopter were chosen.
No mechanical malfunctions were reported or discovered during the investigation.
Findings as to Causes and Contributing Factors
The pilot was operating the helicopter at a height and speed that left no room for error in dimensional judgement. The pilot lost control of the helicopter when the main rotor struck the ice and broke.