British Columbia operator Helijet suffered an unusual incident yesterday when one of their Sikorsky S76C++ helicopters suffered a lightning strike while on a scheduled service with 12 passengers on board.

The lightning strike took out two tail rotor blades, as well as a chunk from the port side stabilizer

Flying at around 4200ft amsl, the two pilots lost control very briefly according to passengers interviewed by a CTV News reporter, but the flight continued shortly after to its intended destination.

The aircraft – registration C-GXHJ – will stay at Victoria heliport until the Canadian Transportation Safety Board completes its initial work and clears it for removal to Helijet’s facility at the Vancouver International Airport.