Helicopter/Fixed Wing Midair

[Cyclic Hotline]

Condolences to all concerned.

Helicopter pilot dies in mid-air crash with plane

JOHN SAUNDERS

Thursday, June 21, 2001


A light plane and a helicopter collided in mid-air last night just outside Sandford, a village of 200, northeast of Toronto, leaving the helicopter pilot dead.

Police said the two aircraft, each with a lone pilot, were seen circling each other over the village at twilight. It was not clear why.

The pilot of the plane, a Cessna 170 based at a private airstrip near Mount Albert, made a forced landing in a field on the north side of Sandford Road, the village's main east-west roadway, and survived.

The helicopter, a Robinson R22 owned by a Toronto company, crashed on the south side near a community centre.

Both aircraft have solid reputations and long histories. The R22 is a lightweight two-seater first produced in 1979 by Robinson Helcipter Co. of Torrance, Calif.

The Cessna 170 is classic four-seater launched in 1948 by Cessna Aircraft Co. of Wichita, Kan.

"We've got an independent witness who says a helicopter and a Cessna 170 were circling each other around the Sandford sideroad, around the Fourth concession," Sergeant Paul Malik of Durham Regional Police said.

Those roads meet at Sandford's main intersection, about halfway between Uxbridge and Mount Albert.

"The Cessna 170 has crash-landed on the north side of the Sandford Road and we're talking to the pilot now," Sgt. Malik said, describing it as a cross between an emergency landing and a crash. "The helicopter did crash-land on the south side of the Sandford sideroad, east of the Sandford Community Centre."

"Unfortunately darkness fell upon us before we could really get a look at the scene so we're securing the scene right now and trying to do what we can with what we have here in the darkness."

Mollie Sharpe, who runs the village general store and post office with her husband, said wreckage appeared to have fallen near a former mill pond just east of the village. "There are several police cars out on the road, there's two fire trucks actually in the field at the mill pond. I couldn't see any planes or anything like that, but there were several police officers and police cars and fire engines."

[penguin]

Pilot in fatal crash didn't have licence, investigator says

Alison Taylor
STAFF REPORTER
Toronto Star June 24, 2001

The pilot of a Cessna 170 plane involved in a fatal crash with a helicopter should never have been in the air, says a Transportation Safety Board investigator.

Evidence shows the light plane's pilot, Myles Tunney, did not have a valid pilot's licence and that his student permit had expired in 1995, said David Curry, the investigator in charge of the accident.

"If he didn't have a licence he shouldn't have been in the air at all,'' Curry said.

The plane and helicopter collided at about 1,000 feet near the village of Sandford, northeast of Toronto, around 8 p.m. Wednesday. Anton Tyukodi, the 45-year-old helicopter pilot, died.

Tunney was able to land his plane in a nearby farmer's field and was uninjured.

According to Tunney's log book, he had been flying about 25 hours annually since 1996, which is not a lot, Curry said.

"So far in our investigation there is no evidence that he did anything wrong physically to cause the accident,'' Curry said.

On the evening of the accident, Tunney took off from a nearby private grass airstrip and headed south.

Meanwhile, Tyukodi was flying the helicopter from Lindsay to Toronto and was heading southwest, approaching the Cessna diagonally.

Investigators believe the plane was underneath the helicopter.

"It is quite believable that they just didn't see each other. We have no hard evidence that these guys were doing something that they shouldn't except Mr. Tunney was flying without a licence,'' Curry said.

The probe is continuing.

Criminal charges have not been laid but Transport Canada will likely look into the fact Tunney was flying without a valid licence

[Cyclic Hotline]

Probe to investigate unlicensed flying in wake of crash

MARISSA NELSON

Tuesday, June 26, 2001


Investigators are trying to determine whether a fatal plane crash involving a man who did not have a pilot's licence indicates there is a widespread problem of unlicensed pilots of small craft.

"We're trying to determine whether this is an epidemic problem. . . . If it's a wider problem we'll upgrade the investigation," David Curry, lead investigator for the Transportation Safety Board, said yesterday. "We'll be putting our feelers out to see if it's a bigger problem."

About 8 p.m. last Wednesday, a light plane crashed into a helicopter just outside the village of Sandford, northeast of Toronto. The helicopter pilot, Anton Tyukodi, 45, of Toronto, died in the crash. The pilot of the plane, Miles Tunney, 56, of Mount Albert, made a forced landing in a field, but walked away unharmed.

Mr. Curry said he finished collecting information about how the crash happened last weekend and he is confident in his findings to date. He said the plane, which is still at the edge of a field near Uxbridge, was taking off from a private grass air strip and came up underneath the helicopter, which was en route from Lindsay to Toronto. The plane's nose hit the back blade of the helicopter. Divers combed the bottom of a nearby pond, but could not find the helicopter's main rotor.

Mr. Curry said the pilot of the plane had a learner's permit that expired in 1995, but had never had a proper pilot's licence. He also did not have insurance on the plane or the required medical or airworthiness certificates. However, Mr. Curry said he did not find any indication that Mr. Tunney had carried out any pilot procedures badly or in a way that would have caused the crash.

Mr. Tunney said yesterday that he had no comment on the case.

Detective Pearl Gabona of Durham Regional police said there will not be a criminal investigation into the crash. "I've found there does not seem to be any grounds for criminal charges," she said. Det. Gabona said they would likely never understand why the pilots of the two aircraft did not see each other before colliding.

"There's no indication there was anything untoward," she said. The family of Mr. Tyukodi has been told about the findings and understand why there will not be any criminal proceedings. "They're very good people, who say an accident is an accident," Det. Gabona said.

This week, Mr. Curry will talk to industry experts and owners of private grass airstrips to see whether there are any wider safety implications. "When we turn over the right rocks, it's quite easy to get information," he said.

An advocacy group for pilots and airplane owners said yesterday that there is no need for more regulations or policing of private pilots.

"All the regulations are in place," Kevin Psutka, president the of Canadian Pilots and Owners Association, said in Ottawa. "This is an extremely rare event."

Mr. Psutka said that many pilots do get asked for their certificates in spot checks.