A pilot's cellphone use and skipped maintenance checklist steps combined to kill a worker at a Smithers Airport ground run
A pilot who was monitoring a live sporting event on his cellphone while conducting helicopter maintenance contributed to a fatal workplace accident at Smithers Airport in British Columbia on 6 May 2023, according to a new Transportation Safety Board of Canada (TSB) report. It identifies cockpit distraction, skipped safety checks, and routine complacency as the factors behind an accident that killed one worker and seriously injured another.
The helicopter, operated by Mustang Helicopters Inc. in British Columbia, was undergoing routine maintenance when it suddenly began spinning out of control during the third of three engine ground runs conducted that morning. It completed approximately one and a half full rotations before the pilot could stop it. Two maintenance workers standing beside the aircraft were struck repeatedly by the spinning tail rotor. One was killed. The other was seriously injured and airlifted to hospital in Prince George, British Columbia. The pilot was uninjured.
Cellphone use kept the pilot's attention off the controls
Throughout the ground runs, the pilot was using a cellphone connected to a wireless earpiece and, between runs, was tracking a live sporting event from the cockpit. The TSB found that "the pilot's attention was not fully focused on conducting the maintenance ground run operations," and that when the helicopter began spinning, he was looking down and was caught off guard. His response was too slow to prevent the aircraft from completing more than a full rotation before it was stopped.
Canada has no rules prohibiting pilots from using personal devices in the cockpit during operations. The TSB has previously flagged the risks of personal device use across multiple transportation modes, noting that even brief distractions can cause critical warning signs to be missed. For safety professionals tracking distraction risks in high-hazard workplaces, the Mustang case is a direct example of the consequences.
Skipped safety checks left a dangerous problem undetected
The cellphone was not the only issue. After the first ground run, the pilot began working from memory rather than following the written checklist, skipping steps he considered unnecessary for a maintenance run. The TSB found that "important steps in the checklist were not completed," leaving the aircraft's foot controls locked in a position that would force it to spin when power was increased.
The pilot also skipped pre-start checks that would have caught the problem before the third run began. When he brought the engine up to operating power, the aircraft immediately began to rotate. Testing by Airbus Helicopters later confirmed that skipping those specific checks reproduced the uncontrolled spin.
Routine familiarity made the situation worse. The team had completed the same maintenance the day before without incident, and the TSB found that "previous successful iterations of the operation further shaped the team's expectations" of a low-risk task. No formal safety briefing was held on the morning of the accident, and there was no shared plan for what to do if something went wrong. For safety professionals who understand how complacency compounds risk on the job the finding will be a familiar one.
What changed after the accident
Mustang Helicopters Inc., which operates nine bases across Canada from its main office in Blackfalds, Alberta, made significant changes following the accident. A maintenance engineer is now required to be inside the helicopter during all ground runs. Wireless communication systems were rolled out across every base. A new policy requiring pilots to stow personal devices was introduced, along with a revised safety briefing process and a new ground run procedure added to the company's operations manual.
For those responsible for developing safety procedures in aviation and high-risk workplaces, the Mustang case is a reminder that routine tasks are not risk-free, and that the gap between written procedures and what actually happens on the job can be fatal.
