Full report here...The pilot of an ill-fated Canadian military helicopter tried to manually override the flight control function and — for a variety of reasons — did not see the autopilot was still on when the CH-148 Cyclone helicopter crashed into the Ionian Sea off Greece last year, an air force flight safety investigation has concluded.
The conflict between manual control and the aircraft's automatic flight controller system caused an unanticipated "bias" in the helicopter's fly-by-wire (FBW) computers, prompting the aircraft to nose dive at full speed into the ocean as it was returning to HMCS Fredericton after a flypast.
The pilot, however, was not at fault because attempting to use manual controls while the automatic system is still engaged is a routine procedure, the air force report said.
The flight safety investigation does raise a series of additional questions about training and, more importantly, certification of the helicopter, which was fitted with a high-tech flight control system that few other helicopters in the world possess.
The accident killed six members of the military on April 29, 2020 — the biggest single-day loss of life for the Canadian Armed Forces since the Afghan war.
Those killed were: Capt. Brenden MacDonald, Capt. Kevin Hagen, Capt. Maxime Miron-Morin, Master-Cpl. Matthew Cousins, Sub-Lt. Matthew Pyke and Sub-Lt. Abbigail Cowbrough.
Sikorsky CH-148 Cyclone Helicopter