B.C. passenger describes falling thousands of feet after lightning strike hits Helijet

A Langley, B.C., resident shared his potential near-death experience aboard a Helijet that was struck by lightning on Tuesday.

Jason Craik, who rides the Helijet regularly for work, said it was a typical lift-off on Tuesday when he and some colleagues boarded the aircraft to head to some meetings in Victoria.

He said they are used to flying through rain and wind, and thought nothing was out of the ordinary until a loud bang and a white flash of light rattled the aircraft’s cabin.

2:11 B.C. passenger describes falling thousands of feet after lightning strike hits Helijet

“About 15 or 20 minutes into the flight, there was a massive boom and a giant flash coming from the front of the cockpit behind the panel. (It) seemed like some sort of electrical short, and then some rough machine noises and a change in tone of the engine,” he told Global News.

“And then, (it felt like us) spiralling down to the ground at a rapid pace, and of course, we were (surrounded) by clouds so it was really tough to tell what was going on.”

Craik then said the aircraft plummeted through the cloud cover and they could see what was happening.

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“As we came through the clouds, it was like we were on our side and we looked out the right window and we could see the water and trees,” he said.

“Definitely felt a rapid descent like a weightless feeling. A lot of us thought that was it. We kept rotating (and) some sent texts to loved ones — I sent one to my fiancé.”

Craik said after what felt like maybe a minute of free falling, the pilots were able to regain control of the Helijet and level the aircraft.

He said he was told the aircraft fell thousands of feet.

“You hear about life flashing before your eyes. For me, it was an unnatural calm of resignation, ‘this is happening,’ and luckily, … I have to thank the pilots for going through their training and checklist to get the helicopter level again and getting us to the ground,” he said.

“I (texted) her and I said, ‘I love her very much.’ I didn’t want to alarm her as she was at an ultrasound appointment for our first child. Luckily, I was able to make it home.”

Craik said when they reached the ground he called his fiancé to let her know what had happened and then, it was off to their meetings for work. Craik and his colleagues said they passed on their booked helicopter ride home and opted for a ferry ride back to the Lower Mainland.

2:16 Passengers text their goodbyes after Helijet flight hit by lightning

The 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 metres when it was hit by lightning. He said 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 said such an event is very, very rare, and in his 36 years of experience, it has only happened twice.

He said there were no injuries, although he’s sure that such an incident would certainly shake up those on board.

Hill said there was some damage to the aircraft, including the tail rotor, but the two pilots on board did a great job in handling the rare situation.

“I think they really did a fabulous job and relied on that training and were able to safely bring everybody to their destination,” Hill said.

Hill said staff on the ground spoke to passengers to ensure no one was hurt.

The damaged chopper is now grounded. Pilots will be debriefed and given some time to process this event, he said.

Hill said the company is working with the Transportation Safety Board to determine what happened and assess the damage to the helicopter.

Environment Canada issued a special weather statement Tuesday covering Greater Victoria and other parts of Vancouver Island, saying between 30 and 50 millimetres of rain was expected.

— with files from The Canadian Press