Canadian Helicopters Limited Class Action Lawsuit Overview:
- Who: Passengers of a 2019 helicopter incident during which pilots allegedly lost control of the aircraft, entering it into an out-of-control tailspin and coming within four metres of crashing into the ocean file a class action lawsuit against the company operating the aircraft.
- Why: Passengers are seeking damages for psychological injuries, including PTSD, as well as for loss of earning capacity and medical care and legal costs
- Where: The class action lawsuit was filed in Nova Scotia
Canadian Helicopters Limited has been hit with a class action lawsuit alleging negligence after 11 passengers were subjected to a traumatic experience following a 2019 helicopter incident.
The class action lawsuit was filed in Nova Scotia by lead Plaintiff Robert Kenney, one of the passengers on the flight, who says that he suffers from PTSD from the event, CBC reports.
“If you can imagine your life passing before your eyes, everything was going crazy. Everybody on the chopper, there was a lot of screaming and hollering,” he said.
Despite low visibility due to fog, the flight, which was carrying workers from Halifax Stanfield International Airport to an offshore oil rig, was going smoothly until the captain and first officer attempted to land on the rig’s helideck. Both were unable to see the deck through the fog, nor the rig or horizon, the Canadian Helicopters Limited lawsuit reads.
On the third landing attempt, the pilots noticed too late that the nose of the helicopter was too high, it was banking too much to the right, and it was approaching too slowly — which led it into a type of uncontrolled rapid descent — known as being in a vortex ring state.
“The helicopter was in an out-of-control tailspin dropping toward the ocean surface. This was all readily apparent to the class members, who were terrified and bracing themselves for a crash into the ocean surface,” the Canadian Helicopters Limited lawsuit reads.
According to the class action lawsuit, the aircraft was dropping at a rate of nine metres per second when passengers “felt the helicopter shake and yaw severely to the right,” and “the screens and systems all went blank and alarms engaged.”
“At the point of near impact, the engines were throttled beyond limit, extremely loud, torqued at well over capacity. The class members could hear the engines screaming as ocean water sprayed all over the windows.… The class members thought the helicopter was crashing into the ocean surface at high speed and that they were going to die.”
At the last minute, the helicopter came out of the vortex ring state after a propeller broke the surface of the ocean, and the pilot was able to bring the aircraft to 400 metres. However, it was still out of control, and it began falling again as the pilot flew over Sable Island. Eventually, the pilot regained control and flew the helicopter back to Halifax.
“The class members were already in a state of extreme mental and physiological stress. The class members remained in a heightened state of arousal the entire flight back given the manner in which the helicopter was flying, noisily and jarringly, at a low altitude, with systems down and on autopilot,” the Canadian Helicopters Limited lawsuit reads.
Kenney told CBC he had been diagnosed with PTSD because of the incident, and his ability to concentrate has been severely affected.
“Seems like I’m always lost in space. I used to always be like a trivia champion … and now as soon as somebody asks me a question, point blank, my mind is gone,” he told CBC.
He said that due to anxiety about flying, he has lost out on work, and now has to work many more hours at his job on land to make up for the wages he’s lost.
Donald Shupe, another passenger on the flight, told CBC that the drop to the water felt like it happened in seconds.
“We went sideways and I smashed my head on the window and next thing you know I was looking at water,” he said. “I looked at everybody else and I said, ‘This must be our day.’ … I was vibrating inside because I didn’t think we were actually going to pull out of this. I honestly thought this was it.”
According to the class action lawsuit, Canadian Helicopters Limited destroyed the recordings between the two pilots before they could be heard by investigators.
The investigation found that Canadian Helicopters Limited lawsuit gave inadequate guidance to crew to ensure landing approaches were within industry-recommended standards, and it did not warn of the hazards of overriding autopilot in poor visibility, CBC reports.
The passengers are seeking damages for psychological injuries, including PTSD, as well as for loss of earning capacity and medical care and legal costs.
Have you ever had a scare on a flight of any kind? Let us know your experience in the comments section!
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