Found Deceased CANADA - Nicole, 47, & Jody Blais, 49, failed to return via helicopter, Kapuskasing, ON, 4 Mar 2019

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Kapuskasing couple and their helicopter missing

The search for a missing Kapuskasing couple and their helicpoter is on.

The OPP say the flight which saw Jody Blais and his wife Nicole take off from Sudbury on Monday, was set to arrive at a hangar in Fauquier around 6:45pm.

Constable Stephanie Belec says the OPP Emergency Response Team has joined up with the Joint Rescue Coordination Centre from CFB Trenton.

Local residents and friends of the Blais family such as Gilbert Mondoux have posted on Facebook stating they’re working hand-in-hand with the OPP to help track down the helicopter.

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Kapuskasing couple on chopper flight missing since Monday (10:40 a.m. update) - TimminsToday.com
 
Update: Missing Kapuskasing couple last seen leaving Sudbury by chopper Monday night - Sudbury.com
A Kapuskasing couple has gone missing on a helicopter somewhere between Timmins and Kapuskasing.

Jody and Nicole Blais operate a company that gives helicopter tours called Helico Blais. Police have not issued a release on the situation yet, but posts shared to Facebook by friends and family members say the couple were flying between Sudbury and Timmins on Monday. They haven't been seen since March 4.

Search and rescue have been flying over the area in hopes of spotting the craft.

It is unknown if the helicopter crashed or had to make an emergency landing.

According to a Facebook post by Gilbert Mondoux, a Kapuskasing man who is helping co-ordinate search and rescue efforts alongside the family, it is suspected the couple made a soft landing, not a crash landing, in a remote location and just need to be found.
 
The helicopter in the photo is an R44 Raven. Since I don’t know how to look up Canadian registrations I’m not sure the year, but let’s just say that model has less than stellar history. Since 1982, there have been 512 deaths in 291 Robinson crashes worldwide. (www.ntsb.gov)

Robinson R44 helicopters manufactured prior to December 2010, have fuel tanks that are susceptible to rupture. The helicopter’s fuel system design is the culprit, causing numerous deaths due to post-crash fires in crashes that would have otherwise been survivable.

Robinson’s answer to these post-crash fires? Safety Notice 40, published in July 2006, which essentially tells pilots to require all occupants to wear fireproof suits, gloves, and helmets. (my link didn't work, here is another link to the safety notice from the manufacturer's website https://robinsonheli.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/rhc_sn40.pdf )

Finally, in February 2012, after numerous post-crash fires, Robinson issued Service Bulletin SB78, making the installation of the more crashworthy fuel tanks mandatory by December 31, 2013.

Robinson has not, however, initiated a recall of the old-style fuel tanks or asked the FAA or Transport Canada to issue an Airworthiness Directive to require replacement of the problematic fuel tanks.

Hoping they are safe, but given that it was dark, doing an autorotation at night if the engine failed would be a challenge.
 
Grace G: The missing helicopter is a Robinson R-66, C-GAUA. This particular aircraft was imported to Canada in 2013, after the R-66 model received Canadian certification.
Thanks for the clarification - I was going off of the photo from his facebook Nov. 20 of his helicopter, C-GFFV as the one in the thread above doesn't show the registration number. I didn't know he had more than one. Hoping he was able to set it down, hopefully just a chip detector warning or such, and is just waiting rescue (I'm a 18,000 hour pilot, turned LE) C-GFFV | Robinson R44 Raven | Private | Olivier Lacombe | JetPhotos
 
Search party organizing in Timmins for missing Kap couple

Off-trail snowmobilers are being asked to join in a search in the morning, setting out from Timmins in an attempt to find Jody and Nicole Blais. The Kapuskasing couple has been missing since Monday night, when they failed to return to their helicopter hangar in Fauquier.

The search party will leave Day Construction at 125 Kamiskotia Road at 5:30am. Organizers say the search plan will be explained at that time. They won’t say tonight exactly where it will head.

[...]

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would they have any emergency supplies on board like water & snacks?
do pilots normally have an emergency kit?
how long could they survive without fresh water & food?
 
would they have any emergency supplies on board like water & snacks?
do pilots normally have an emergency kit?
how long could they survive without fresh water & food?

It's been very cold with temps getting down to -30C (-22F). The route from Sudbury to Timmins by air, takes you 300kms, over the great forested outback, without a human settlement in site. I am extremely concerned.
 
It's been very cold with temps getting down to -30C (-22F). The route from Sudbury to Timmins by air, takes you 300kms, over the great forested outback, without a human settlement in site. I am extremely concerned.
In answer to LadyL's question (I think I put this under the wrong post). Pilots flying under charter regulations are not required to have an emergency kit (under US regulations - I imagine Canada has similar regulations) unless the aircraft holds more than 19 passengers and then it is only medical supplies, NOT food or water. When I was flying pipeline patrol 87 years ago (well it seems like it) I'd carry some chocolate bars, some water, and a sleeping bag as well as some flares in case I had to make an emergency landing in the mountains but it is NOT required.
 
jody-and-nicole-blais.JPG


RCAF launches 'major search and rescue operation' for missing Kapuskasing couple | CBC News
"The Royal Canadian Air Force launched a "major search and rescue operation" on Saturday for a Kapuskasing, Ont., couple who went missing during a helicopter flight this week.

"This will allow for additional RCAF and Civil Air Search and Rescue Association (CASARA) personnel and assets to be tasked to assist with the search," said the Department of National Defence in a news release. "

"According to the federal government, the resources now involved in the search operation include:
Three RCAF CC-130 Hercules.
  • Three RCAF CH-146 Griffon helicopters.
  • Three CASARA aircraft.
"We would like to remind everyone between Sudbury and Kapuskasing that the use of Unmanned Aerial Vehicles in an active search area is heavily restricted, as it significantly affects our ability to safely carry out our [search and rescue] mission," the government release said."
 
Missing couple's helicopter found in wooded area, partially buried in snow - BarrieToday.com

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The search for a Kapuskasing couple has ended tragically.

Around 1:15 p.m. this afternoon, search master Capt. Martin Zimmer said a Canadian Forces C130 Hercules spotter located the crash site of the helicopter Nicole and Jody Blais were in.

“Following that, a Canadian Armed Forces Griffon helicopter was dispatched to the site where two search and rescue technicians were dispatched to look at the incident and they determined at that time that both occupants had not survived the impact,” said Zimmer.

[...]
 
Its unclear to me in the above post if the bodies of Nicole and Jody were recovered in the wreckage of the helicopter or their bodies were discharged upon impact of the crash and unlikely that they survived but that their bodies have not been recovered yet.
 

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