'We just descended incredible amounts': Audio recording sheds light on Helijet flight struck by lightning

Audio recording of Helijet flight 705 appears to shed light on the flight team's heroic actions.

During a Tuesday morning flight from Vancouver to Victoria, the helicopter was believed to be struck by lightning over the Gulf Islands.

"Oh (expletive)," said the pilot, whose name has not been released by Helijet. "Okay, decouple. Decouple. Decouple."

According to a former pilot, this means the helicopter's electronics and autopilot were compromised.

"Probably it did not auto-disconnect, and what they were saying to each other was turn it off, that they were going to hand fly the helicopter," said Shawn Pruchnicki, an accident investigator and instructor at Ohio State University.

The pilot continues by declaring a 'PAN PAN', meaning 'possible assistance needed.'

"This is similar to mayday, but it's to a lesser level," said Pruchnicki.

The pilot then tells air traffic control (ATC) "We just descended incredible amounts of altitude. We're still descending. We're at 1300."

Lecia Stewart, one of the 12 passengers on that flight, thought she was going to die.

"I fly a lot and I really thought, 'OK, I'm going to go down in a helicopter,'" said Stewart.

Helijet says two of the four tail rotors were heavily impacted by the strike, making the helicopter difficult to steer.

After the pilot regained control, he realized what may have caused the damage and subsequent freefall.

"We just had a lightning strike," the pilot told ATC. "We descended a bunch. We'd like to request vectors for the airport to YYJ."

The helicopter landed safely a few minutes later in Victoria. No one was physically injured.

"Sounds like they did an outstanding job and it sounds like they're a very professional, very much in control of the situation," said Pruchnichi, who listened to the audio recording several times.

B.C. Premier David Eby was asked about the pilot's efforts at an unrelated news conference Thursday.

"I've sent a letter of thanks and appreciation to those pilots," said Eby. "It's just such a wonderful story out of what could have been a horrible tragedy for this province."

The Transportation Safety Board is investigating the incident.

"We're looking at (the) aircraft, what happened to the aircraft, the damage to the aircraft, how it's being operated, you know, the weather that its being operated in," said Ryan Libech, senior technical investigator with the TSB.

Helijet has said it cleared the flight path of any lightning in the area prior to takeoff and that there were no other strikes nearby. Environment and Climate Change Canada, however, said its data showed otherwise.

"From an aviation perspective, you know, the products did show thunderstorm activity as a possibility," said Armel Castellan, meteorologist with Environment and Climate Change Canada.

Helijet would not confirm or deny whether the audio transcript is authentic, as it awaits the conclusion of the TSB investigation.