What happened
On the afternoon of an unspecified date, a Bell 212 helicopter, registered C–FJUR, was performing water bucketing operations to support forest fire suppression near Slave Lake, Alberta. While approaching the surface of Lesser Slave Lake to collect water, the aircraft experienced a sudden forward descent, dropping to within a few feet of the water's surface. Following this, the helicopter climbed briefly before rolling sharply to the right and plunging into the lake.
Local firefighters reached the wreckage within minutes and extracted the pilot. Despite receiving immediate first aid, the pilot died from head injuries sustained during the impact. The aircraft's emergency locator transmitter (ELT) was not detected by search and rescue teams until after the wreckage had been pulled from the water.
The investigation
The investigation focused on the environmental conditions and the operational configuration of the aircraft. At the time of the accident, the lake surface was glassy and calm, which can severely impair a pilot's ability to judge altitude and speed. The pilot was conducting pickups several hundred feet from the shoreline, significantly further out than the 100 to 200-foot range typically used by other pilots to maintain visual references.
Investigators examined the aircraft's equipment, noting that the belly hook was electrically disarmed for flight. This configuration meant the pilot could not easily trigger the electrical release to jettison the water bucket. The investigation also looked into the impact of the pilot's lack of head protection and the failure of the ELT signal to transmit effectively while submerged.