The pilot of a Eurocopter AS350 BA probably felt pressured by his employer, his client and his passengers when he flew an overweight helicopter into an area of deteriorating visibility in eastern Quebec, Canada, in August 2010, the Transportation Safety Board of Canada (TSB) said.
The 235-hour pilot of the charter flight lost visual contact with the ground and then lost control of the helicopter, which crashed 22 nm (41 km) north of Sept-Îles. The pilot and his three passengers were killed in the crash, and the helicopter was destroyed.
“When inexperienced pilots face operational pressures alone, without support from the company, they can be influenced to make decisions that place them and their passengers at risk,” the TSB said in its final report on the accident.
On Aug. 13, 2010 — four days before the flight — Hydro-Québec, a generator and distributor of electricity, contacted Héli-Excel to arrange for an AS350 B2 for the Aug. 17 charter flight from Sept-Îles to…
