A commercial helicopter with 14 people on board landed safely in Victoria on Tuesday after it was hit by lightning. Rick Hill, the vice-president of Helijet, said the aircraft was at about 1,200 meters when it was hit by lightning. The two pilots on board took the chopper down to below the clouds and then landed without trouble in Victoria a few minutes later. Hill mentioned that such an event is very rare and has only happened twice in his 36 years of experiences.
There were no injuries reported, although Hill believes that the incident would certainly shake up those on board. He mentioned that there was some damage to the aircraft, including the tail rotor, but the pilots did a great job in handling the rare situation. Hill applauded their training and their ability to safely bring everyone to their destination. Staff on the ground also spoke to the passengers to ensure no one was hurt.
The damaged helicopter is now grounded. The pilots will be debriefed and given time to process this event. Hill stated that the company is working with the Transportation Safety Board to determine what happened and assess the damage to the helicopter.
In other news, Environment Canada issued a special weather statement on Tuesday for Greater Victoria and other parts of Vancouver Island, warning of 30 to 50 millimeters of rain expected.