A training pilot has minor injuries after a helicopter crashed and rolled over in Burlington, Ont., on Wednesday.
Halton Regional Police Service spokesperson Jeff Dillon told CBC Hamilton officers received a call to the Burlington Executive Airport, also called the Burlington Airpark, at 12:36 p.m., after two males were involved the accident.
The small, privately-owned airport has a flight training centre, a custom airline named D.B. Air, and a maintenance shop, according to its website.
A preliminary report of the crash from the Transportation Safety Board of Canada, obtained by CBC Hamilton, details how the crash unfolded.
The report states a training pilot and student were in a Sikorsky S58T helicopter trying to position on the runway when one of the landing gears dropped off the paved surface on to the grass.
“The landing gear strut was compressed, affecting the main rotor operation, and causing oscillations. The blades contacted the tail boom and the ground, and one of the landing gear struts failed causing the aircraft to rollover,” reads the report.
“The helicopter came to rest on its side resulting in substantial damage.”
No further investigation into crash is coming
The report notes both the instructor and student wore safety harnesses but the instructor had no helmet on.
Dillon said the instructor was taken to hospital with minor injuries.
Dillon said it “does not appear to have been a serious crash” and Hugo Fontaine, a spokesperson for the Transportation Safety Board of Canada, said there won’t be a comprehensive investigation or report into the incident.
Dillon said the airport was temporarily closed to remove the helicopter from the runway and officers left the scene after a few hours.
He said the Burlington Fire Department also cleaned up a gas spill.
CBC Hamilton contacted the airport and the fire department for more details.
Last crash with injuries at airport was in 2010
The Civil Aviation Daily Occurrence Reporting System shows there have been five crashes at the airpark since 1997.
The last time an aircraft crashed and injured someone at the airpark was in 2010, according to the Civil Aviation Daily Occurrence Reporting System.
A solo student pilot of a Cessna 172 was doing circuits at the airpark and taking off for a third time, when a gust of wind sent the plane drifting to the right.
“The landing gear contacted the ground and the aircraft spun 180 degrees and came to rest on the nose,” according to an occurrence summary weeks after the July crash.
“There was substantial damage to the aircraft. The pilot received minor injuries.”