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Incident to the helicopter AS355 registered C-FELE and operated by Blackcomb Helicopter on 30/12/2016 at Squamish [Investigation led by TSB / Canada]

Perte temporaire d'efficacité des commandes cyclique et collective en croisière, en conditions givrantes

Responsible entity

Canada - TSB

Preliminary data based on notification from Canadian authorities:

C-FELE, an Aerospatiale AS 355N aircraft operated by Blackcomb Helicopters, had taken off from Squamish, BC (CYSE), close to sea level with an outside air temperature (OAT) above freezing, and climbed to about 4500 feet ASL.

During cruise flight with the OAT below freezing, the cyclic and collective flight controls became stuck; however, some cyclic movement to the right was possible. The pedals could be move but required force similar to a loss of hydraulic boost in the yaw controls.

The pilot was able to move down a bit to initiate a slow descent.

With the assistance of pedal input, the pilot was able to steer the helicopter back to CYSE. On final approach, the controls returned to normal operation and the helicopter landed without further control issues.