Helicopter Sikorsky Aviation Accidents and Incidents Aviation Safety & Regulation

TSB: Helijet Sikorsky S-76 lightning likely helicopter-induced, triggering display failures and tail-rotor damage (Oct 2023)

Canada’s Transportation Safety Board says a Helijet Sikorsky S-76 flight in October 2023—2 crew and 12 passengers—encountered lightning in overcast, conductive conditions. Investigators conclude the strike was likely helicopter-induced, temporarily taking out all electronic displays and destroying a tail-rotor blade before the plunge.

Discovered 2026-05-14T05:30:36.889974-07:00 | 2026-05-14T05:30:36.889974-07:00

Briefing

What Hype is tracking

The TSB’s findings directly connect a mid-flight lightning strike to immediate cockpit and flight-control effects (all electronic displays temporarily off, and tail-rotor-blade destruction), underscoring how rapidly weather-linked events can degrade helicopter survivability.
Helicopter-induced lightning risk changes how operators and risk teams think about encounter scenarios in overcast, conductive conditions—particularly in mixed-traffic environments.
The report adds to the evidence base from other TSB investigations, including how the regulator frames causal chains in fatal events (see TSB: Recurring landing-gear fault and crew distraction caused fatal Jan 2024 Jetstream 32 crash).

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