Bell 212 Helicopter Crash in British Columbia Due to Tail Rotor Drive Failure

Accident Overview and Flight Details On the day of the accident, a Bell 212 helicopter, registration C-FHDY, serial number 30594, was operating under a seismic contract in the Pink Mountain area of northeastern British Columbia. The aircraft had been in this role for 26 days, accumulating approximately 77 flight hours. The pilot departed from Mae's Kitchen, a motel located at Mile 147 on the Alaska Highway, at 0624 Pacific daylight time to transport seismic crews to a staging area. From there, the helicopter flew crews to drill sites approximately eight miles west of the staging area. After about four hours of work, the pilot was conducting vertical reference sling operations with a 2,700-pound compressor on a 100-foot longline. While hovering at 50 to 100 feet above a drilling site on a mountain ridge at approximately 5,600 feet above sea level, the helicopter experienced a loss of tail rotor authority and began rotating to the right. The pilot dropped the load and cleared a ridge, but the helicopter continued to rotate and descended into a mountain cirque, crashing on a slope at the 5,200-foot level at approximately 1615 Pacific daylight time. The pilot sustained fatal injuries, and the helicopter was substantially damaged without a post-crash fire.