Details of fatal B.C. helicopter accident outlined in TSB report

A helicopter involved in a fatal accident at Smithers Airport in Smithers, B.C., on May 6, 2023, is shown in this handout photo from the Transportation Safety Board report on the accident. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Handout — TSB, Smithers RCMP (Mandatory Credit)

The Transportation Safety Board says a pilot missed important steps on a checklist during maintenance work before one worker was injured and another killed by the tail rotor of a helicopter at a B.C. airport.

The board’s report released Wednesday in the fatal accident says one pilot and two workers were conducting maintenance ground run operations on the helicopter at Smithers Airport on May 6, 2023, when the aircraft unexpectedly rotated 540 degrees.

The report says both workers on the ground were hit by the helicopter’s tail rotor, killing one and severely injuring the other.

It says the pilot had brought his cellphone into the cockpit, and was listening to music through an earpiece, and had also told the maintenance workers that he was “interested in following a live sporting event.”

The report says there were three ground runs, and the third time the aircraft’s engine was started, one of the helicopter’s pedals was engaged and it began rotating “quickly.”

It says both ground workers tried to get out of the way, but were stuck multiple times by the tail rotor, and the board found the pilot had been using his cellphone periodically, “distracting him from the maintenance ground run operations.”

“Although the pilot was looking down at the time of the helicopter rotation, it could not be determined whether the cellphone had distracted him at that moment,” the report said.

The board’s report said it has identified the risks of cellphone use in other accidents in the past, but Canada has no regulations banning their use in the aircraft cockpits.

“It is clear that portable electronic devices (PEDs) can divert attention from activities that are necessary for safe operations,” the report said.

The report said Mustang Helicopters Inc., the aircraft’s owner, changed procedures after the accident, and also created a distraction policy requiring the “stowing (of) electronic devices.”

This report by The Canadian Press was first published May 27, 2026.