What happened
On 14 July 2026, a West Coast Helicopters Limited Hughes 369D departed from Stafford Lake Logging Camp on the northwest end of Loughborough Inlet, British Columbia. Operating under visual flight rules, the aircraft carried a pilot and two forestry engineers en route to a remote site for logging surveys. Upon identifying a steep landslide near the target area, the pilot selected a potential toe-in landing spot up the slope.
After positioning the front of the left skid on the terrain near a fallen tree and stacked rocks, the pilot began yawing right to place the right skid. Suddenly, the helicopter dropped and started vibrating. Although the pilot instructed the passengers to evacuate, control was lost. The aircraft rolled down the slope, breaking apart before the main cabin came to rest approximately 300 feet below the attempted landing site. The emergency locator transmitter activated, and a handheld radio was used to alert the camp. A Canadian Armed Forces Search and Rescue Cormorant helicopter arrived two hours later. One passenger was hoisted out with serious injuries, while the pilot and the other passenger were fatally injured.
The investigation
The Transportation Safety Board of Canada classified this as a Class 3 investigation, focusing on analyzing specific safety issues arising from the occurrence. The board examined the sequence of events leading to the loss of control during the landing attempt on unstable terrain.