Occurrence
On the morning of 22 January 2020, two helicopters operated by Quebec’s Service aérien gouvernemental departed Montréal/St-Hubert Airport at 0750 Eastern Standard Time for Saint-Henri-de-Taillon to support a search for missing snowmobilers. One helicopter, a Bell 206L-4 (registration C-GSQA, serial number 52060), was released from the assignment early in the afternoon. The pilot, alone on board, took off from Saint-Henri-de-Taillon at 1402 bound for La Tuque Aerodrome. Approximately seven minutes later, the helicopter struck the frozen, snow-covered surface of Lac Saint-Jean. The aircraft was destroyed but there was no post-impact fire.
Pilot Evacuation and Emergency Locator
Despite serious injuries, the pilot egressed from the aircraft and called the Service aérien gouvernemental dispatcher to report the accident. The dispatcher notified the pilot of the second helicopter involved in the search, who went to the scene with two first responders. That helicopter landed at about 1445, then took off again to evacuate the injured pilot to a hospital in Roberval, Quebec. The emergency locator transmitter in the occurrence helicopter activated; its signal was detected by the Canadian Mission Control Centre in Trenton, Ontario, at 1410:34.
Investigation
The Transportation Safety Board of Canada conducted a class 3 investigation. The investigation determined that flat light conditions contributed to the collision.