No violations in Beaver Lake copter crash

The main rotor blades of a Two Bear Air helicopter hit water before the aircraft crashed and sank into Beaver Lake last summer.

These details and other circumstances of the Aug. 4 helicopter accident are described in a National Transportation Safety Board preliminary accident report issued last month.

According to the report, Two Bear employee Jordan White was hovering over Beaver Lake while conducting water bucket operations at about 10:30 p.m. He reported that during the load he saw the main rotor blades strike the water, and then the helicopter impacted the lake surface. White escapeed the sinking aircraft with only minor injuries.

The model MD 369E helicopter was recovered the next day with “substantial damage” to the main rotor, the fuselage and the tail boom, the report states.

According to the report, the flight originated from private property near the lake. Weather conditions at Glacier Park International Airport were clear with wind speeds at 3 knots. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed during the flight and no flight plan was filed.

Federal Aviation Administration public affairs officer Allen Kenitzer says that White is properly certificated to conduct water bucket operations at night and that there were no regulatory violations surrounding the accident.