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A helicopter involved in mining exploration crashed Wednesday morning near Terrace, the latest in a slew of serious crashes in B.C. and the Yukon in recent days.
"It's been a significant concentration of accidents," Bill Yearwood, regional manager of the federal transportation safety board, said in an interview.
"We had a quiet spell leading up to this in June and July."
He said the latest crash occurred at about 11 a.m., 45 kilometres northeast of Terrace.
The unidentified pilot, the only person on board the aircraft operated by Quantum Helicopters Ltd. of Terrace., was seriously injured and was taken to Terrace for treatment.
Terrace RCMP Sgt. Bill Casault said the pilot was involved in a drilling program for a mining exploration company.
He said the crash took place near the headwaters of Legate Creek, about eight km south of Highway 16, the main route connecting Terrace with Prince George.
A Quantum helicopter crashed Sept. 19, 2006, near Alice Arm, killing pilot and ex-RCMP inspector Randy Hildebrandt of Duncan, along with two passengers engaged in resource drilling.
A safety board investigation into that crash found Transport Canada had allowed a Winnipeg company to repair a "critical part" on a Bell 206B helicopter despite the aircraft manufacturer's advice not to.
Bell Helicopter issued a safety notice in 1999 following a helicopter crash in 1998 in Indonesia, indicating the company did not approve of repairs to the part, a transmission mount spindle critical to the operation of the aircraft.
The report found that Cadorath Aerospace Inc. of Winnipeg introduced a "stress concentration" during the repair, which led to a "fatigue crack" and the subsequent failure of the spindle.
No one was immediately available to comment Wednesday at Quantum's Terrace office. The company's website says it is engaged in the mining, petroleum, forestry, and tourism fields.
On Aug. 6, a pilot and three mining workers died when their helicopter went down in the Kitsault River, about 150 km northeast of Prince Rupert near the former mining town of Alice Arm.
That helicopter, a Hughes MD 500, was operated by Prism Helicopters of Pitt Meadows and was hired by Bravo Venture Group, a Vancouver-based mining exploration company. Yearwood, himself a helicopter pilot, said he can see no connection between the two recent helicopter crashes. "At this point, there is no relation between them."
He did confirm helicopters are currently engaged in "lots of activity" in the resource sector in B.C. On Aug. 3, a pilot and four Seaspan International Ltd. employees died when a Pacific Coastal Airlines Grumman G-21 Goose seaplane crashed into a mountain shortly after takeoff from Port Hardy. Two other passengers survived.
In the Yukon, meanwhile, pilot Richard James (Dick) Wood of Merritt is missing after the Bell 206B helicopter he was flying crashed Saturday.
lpynn@vancouversun.com
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