Two people were killed in a helicopter crash Wednesday on Alaska’s North Slope, 28 miles west of Deadhorse, according to the National Transportation and Safety Board.
The helicopter, a Robinson R-66 owned by Pollux Aviation, went down near the Kuparuk oil field in late morning. The crash was located after NTSB was notified of a missing helicopter, and as a column of smoke rose near the village of Nuiqsut.
Pollux Aviation, based in Wasilla, provides a range of helicopter services on the North Slope, such as charter services, moving equipment and workers to remote sites, aerial surveys, environmental monitoring, and cargo. The company was established in 1991
The NTSB is sending a team to the area. This story will be updated.
The Robinson Helicopter Company has probably had more crashed choppers than any other helicopter manufacturer.
Robinson Helicopter Company also has more flying choppers than any other helicopter manufacturer. I fly R22s and R44s and toured the factory in January. They are good machines that enable a lot more people to fly than would otherwise be possible, but yes, you do have to be careful. As with most other machines.
Probably due to the quantity of them in use and the low cost of purchase and operation.
RIP to the two souls onboard and prayers to the families and friends
No matter what type helicopter was involved
Amen Jim. It’s like they didn’t even see two people lost their lives. My prayers to the families for their loss. Doesn’t matter WHAT chopper it was!
Amen.
Of course, Robinson. According to NTSB data, Robinsons have more fatal crashes since being type certified than any other helicopter. The last numbers I saw were 1.6 fatal accidents per 100,000 hours flown. Nearly 50% higher than the dozen most common civilian models whose flight hours are tracked by the FAA. A wafer-thin response time between engine out and successful auto rotation. A professional friend in the Lowe 48 was offended during a visit when I declined his offer to ride in his newly-bought, used, R44 (differs from the R66 in the engine it uses). He remained indignant right up until his death in that very same aircraft. Sad for the families of the pilot and passenger.
All companies flying in Alaska should be required to fly the Hughes 500 aircraft for passengers and small sling loads. They are the most crash worthy aircraft made and have outstanding autorotation capabilities. Flew them in Vietnam with over 900 combat hours and also three summers in Alaska. Great aircraft with a lot of survivability overall in accidents.
RIP, two souls gone forever. I flew many hours in R22s and R44s over the years with amazing pilots, who were also small business owners with direct oversight over their machine maintenance. Some took much more care in checking over the helicopters morning and night. The ability to use Robinsons has increased the amount of helicopter work in our state many times over. They’re smaller more agile choppers than Hughes or anything larger like Bells, allowing some amazing science and access that would have never been possible without them. I’m incredibly sorry for the loss for the families and Pollux.