Fatal Griffon crash in Zabul province

It looks, sadly, as if this may have been an "ordinary" accident in the field in difficult circumstances (such things happen on, say, exercises too):

Death in an Afghanistan dust cloud
Blinded pilots veered into wall during liftoff, killing 2 Canadian soldiers, British officer


CPL. PATRICIA PRÉVOST, DND HO/THE CANADIAN PRESS PHOTOS

A helicopter crash possibly caused by mechanical failure claimed Master Cpl. Patrice Audet, left, and Cpl. Martin Joannette July 6, 2009, raising the country's death toll from the Afghan mission to 124. Three other Canadians were hurt.

A helicopter crash in Afghanistan that killed three soldiers, two of them Canadian, apparently occurred when the chopper clipped a security wall while trying to manoeuvre in a blinding cloud of dust, The Canadian Press has learned.

Sources familiar with the tragedy said the Griffon C-146 smashed to the ground and burst into flames.

The crash Monday killed Master Cpl. Pat Audet, 38, of Montreal, a flight engineer, and Cpl. Martin Joannette, 25, a gunner from St-Calixte, Que. A British soldier, Capt. Ben Babington-Browne, 27, of the Royal Engineers, was also killed.

Three other Canadians aboard were hurt, one seriously.

It is common in parched southern Afghanistan for helicopters landing or departing at operating bases to become engulfed in the dust whipped up by their rotors.

With a second Griffon in the air nearby, the pilot lifted off and struggled to orient the helicopter in the whirled-up dust storm compounded by gusty conditions that cut visibility essentially to zero, the sources said.

The helicopter veered too close to the reinforced security perimeter, which is designed to ward off suicide bombers and direct fire from insurgents.

Military authorities have declined to talk officially about the circumstances of the crash as an Air Wing investigation has been launched. They will only say publicly that enemy action had been ruled out, despite Taliban claims of having shot down the craft.

The sources said the chopper that was already aloft may have contributed to the adverse conditions surrounding the crash, and that the formal probe may yet uncover other factors.

The two pilots in the downed chopper survived. Canadian military rules bar publication of the names of deployed flight crew.

The two choppers, part of Canadian Helicopter Force Afghanistan based at Kandahar Airfield [more here and here], had flown to a remote American forward operating base in the Tarnak va Jaldak district of southwest Zabul province, about 80 kilometres northeast of Kandahar city.

The flight ranging just outside Canada's normal area of operations in Kandahar province was to pick up the British engineer.

Under normal operating protocols – essentially for reasons of security – the Griffons fly in pairs, allowing them to keep an eye on each other. The crews depend heavily on sight to know where the other is at any given moment, and the flying itself also relies on visual orientation...

Cpl. Joannette of the Army is an example of the jointness in CF operations in Afstan--more here and here. Meanwhile a typical CBC effort:

Military/Afghanistan

Griffon Chopper Questions

July 7, 2009 (Runs 2:11)

Lynne Robson reports on questions surrounding the use of CH-146 Griffon helicopters in Afghanistan, after one crashed July 6, killing two Canadian soldiers.

play video

Not that I'd call the Griffon "a superior helicopter" for the mission as MND MacKay does near the end of the clip (see this April 2008 post of Babbling's and this post on the upgrades done on the aircraft). Here's a post by Babbling after a flight on a Griffon in Afstan this January.

Update: CP video of choppers in Afstan and dust.