A helicopter that crashed on Alaska’s remote and vast North Slope in July, killing three state scientists and the pilot, stopped sending flight-status data to a real-time tracking system as it passed over the southeastern shoreline of an Arctic lake, according to a preliminary report on the crash released Tuesday.
The Bell 206L-4 helicopter was later found fragmented and partially submerged in Lake Itinik, a large oval-shaped body of water that measures 3 miles wide in some places, according to the report from the National Transportation Safety Board.
There was no indication in the report of what caused the helicopter to crash into the lake in clear conditions. The cause typically is detailed months later when federal investigators file their final report.
The last of the helicopter’s data transmissions sent every three minutes indicated it was traveling in a northwesterly direction at an altitude of 144 feet above mean sea level at 107 mph, the report said.
The terrain around the lake is flat, featureless Arctic tundra. The report said the lake is reported to be at 56 feet above sea level.
The July 20 crash claimed the lives of a pilot and three scientists with Alaska’s Department of Natural Resources, working in the Division of Geological & Geophysical Surveys. The helicopter is owned and operated by Maritime Helicopters of Homer, Alaska. It was under contract to take scientific crews to various remote locations on the North Slope so they could conduct field work.
The wreckage was recovered from the lake on July 30 and taken by helicopter to Utqiagvik for examination. It was later taken to Anchorage, where further examinations are pending.
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