Safety board releases findings in tragic helicopter death near Wawa last summer

The Transportation Safety Board has releases report on a fatal incident last summer near Wawa where a ground crew member got tangled in a helicopter tow line and died. A photo of the Aug. 20, 2023 accident site with approximate positions of the ground crew members marked. (Supplied/Transportation Safety Board with photo from Ontario Provincial Police)

The Transportation Safety Board (TSB) has released its report into a fatal incident last summer near Wawa where a ground crew member got tangled in a helicopter tow line and died.

Map showing the Aug. 20, 2023 accident site with the locations of the old and new drill sites inset (Supplied/Transportation Safety Board with images from Google and information from Angus Gold)

The report also shows a similar non-fatal incident occurred with the same helicopter about a week before the tragedy.

The TSB report was released this week. The report’s purpose is not to assign blame or liability but rather to advance transportation safety.

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The report’s findings

Cochrane-based Expedition Helicopters Inc. operating an Airbus AS350 BA helicopter was hired to assist staff of G4 Drilling Canada Ltd. in moving drilling equipment from one site to another. G4 Drilling at the time was operating to support Angus Gold Inc.’s mining exploration activities about 46 km west of Wawa, Ont.

On Aug. 18, 2023, two days before the fatal incident, the same helicopter and ground crew were conducting a drill move using a cage attached to the craft by lines at a different drill site when a helper was entangled in one of the rigging lines.

"He was lifted approximately 4 feet into the air before the assistant foreman signaled to the pilot to descend," reads the report.

The helper was lowered to the ground and was uninjured.

According to the report, the Aug. 18 incident was not reported to any of the companies involved.

Drill shack cage with tag line from Aug. 20, 2023 helicopter involved fatality west of Wawa, Ont. (Supplied/Transportation Safety Board with photo from Ontario Provincial Police)

At about 5 p.m. on Aug. 20, the day of the fatality, the helicopter pilot was unsuccessfully attempting to lower the cage before telling the ground crew by radio that he needed to refuel. The radio message was not heard by the ground crew – investigators could not determine why the message was not received.

Both the ground crew and pilot were also trained to use hand signals to communicate because of the amount of noise typical to the operation of the helicopter.

The pilot did not observe any hand signals that would stop him from ascending – however, he could only see two of the three ground crew members as his view of the assistant foreman was obscured by the load.

A diagram showing the cage, the helicopter as it would have been oriented in the sky overhead and the tag lines held by the ground crew members. (Supplied/Transportation Safety Board)

As the helicopter ascended, the assistant foreman became entangled in the lines without the pilot’s knowledge.

"The driller and helper were concentrating on their own tag lines and did not see the assistant foreman become entangled," reads the report.

"As the helicopter climbed and departed, the assistant foreman was carried aloft."

When the two ground crew members still on the ground realized the third had become tangled and was being carried upward, the pilot was radioed.

"However, the radio call was made in French, and given that the pilot did not understand French, he could not understand what was being said," reads the report.

"The pilot departed the area and climbed to approximately 200 to 300 feet above ground level over the nearby lake."

The remaining ground crew watched helplessly as the assistant foreman fell from the helicopter.

At 5:22 p.m., the crew still on the ground crew radioed the base camp reporting the incident.

Hearing the tone of the ground crew over the radio the pilot felt something had gone wrong, said investigators. He landed at another site and picked up the foreman – they returned to the site of the incident and became aware of what happened.

A search located the assistant foreman fatally injured in a forested area across the lake from the initial drill site.

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Moving forward

As a result of the fatality, Angus Gold has implemented an indoctrination session, including information on helicopter safety for all personnel, including contractors, accessing drill sites and working near or with helicopters. Noise-cancelling helmets that can be connected to the radios were also purchased by the company and procedures were implemented for using such helmets when conducting longline operations.

Additionally, G4 Drilling has changed the type of tag lines it uses to a kind that is less likely to coil upon itself – making it less likely someone could become entangled.

In its report, TSB reminds pilots they should be able to see that all ground crew members are clear of the loads before lifting them off the ground and ground crew members must exercise both vigilance and caution when working with external loads to avoid situations that could lead to entanglement.

"Personnel who operate radios are reminded that communications need to be made clear by using language and terminology that can be understood by all parties involved and these transmissions should be acknowledged to ensure that the message is understood," reads the report.

"In addition, the communications equipment needs be suitable for the task and take into consideration the environment in which the communications are being made."

The full report can be viewed here.