The Transportation Safety Board of Canada (TSB) says the emergency locator transmitter on a Robinson R44 helicopter that crashed last month was functional.
The crash claimed the lives of Stéphane Roy, the founder and owner of Les Serres Sagami Inc., which produces greenhouse-grown tomatoes and other produce under the Sagami and Savoura brands — and his 14-year-old son Justin.
In an update last week, the TSB said the switch on the helicopter’s emergency locator was found on the “off” position.
The latest findings suggest that had the switch been turned on — or in the “ARM” position — the transmitter would have emitted a distress signal after impact. The TSB says the battery was fully charged and that “the antenna connected to the radio beacon was in good condition and would have transmitted the distress signal.”
Roy and his son were reported missing on July 11, after failing to return home from a fishing trip in Lac de la Bidière, a remote area west of La Tuque, Que in the upper Laurentians region. The pair were set to fly from Lac de La Bidière to Sainte-Sophie.
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An extensive search involving the air force, the Canadian Coast Guard and other rescue services was launched, with the initial search area spanning about 20,000 square kilometres. Rescuers used cellular data to narrow the search zone to about 2,200 square kilometres.
The wreckage, however, was only found two weeks later on July 25 near Lac Valtrie, north of the Mont-Tremblant National Park. Both Roy and his son were found dead.
The TSB is reminding pilots of the importance of making sure that the switch on their aircraft’s emergency locator transmitter is in the “ARM” position.
“This will help reduce possible delays in the deployment of search and rescue resources should an aircraft be reported missing, thereby increasing survival chances for occupants,” the TSB said in its report posted to its website on Friday.
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The investigation into the fatal crash is still ongoing.
The TSB says it will attempt to extract data from two cellphones and a GPS retrieved at the scene. It will also analyze the helicopter’s rotors.
“The main rotor and tail rotor did not show the characteristic signs of an impact at full speed,” the TSB said. “Further analysis will be done to try to determine the speed of rotation at the moment of impact.”
— With files from The Canadian Press
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