WARNING: this story contains graphic details.

A pilot who died in a helicopter crash near Whitehorse last year was not to blame for the accident, the Transportation Safety Board of Canada has found.

The board issued its report on the incident on Tuesday.

According to the report, a pilot with Horizon Helicopters, a Whitehorse-based company, was on a routine training flight on May 2, 2025.

The pilot had recently been hired as Horizon’s incoming chief pilot. He was flying with a trainer in the passenger seat.

About an hour into the flight, the pilot was practicing an emergency landing technique in a valley east of Grey Mountain. The report said the location was chosen to avoid air traffic.

While practicing autorotations – an emergency landing maneuver practiced in case of engine failure – the wind suddenly shifted by about 180 degrees. Neither pilot was aware of the wind change, the report said.

The wind shift sent the helicopter into a vortex ring state, an aerodynamic phenomenon where a helicopter sinks into its own turbulated air.

The trainer recognized they were in a vortex ring state and took control of the helicopter, the report said.

The helicopter hit the ground, skidded and rolled onto its left side. The report said at least one of the main rotor blades entered the cabin over the front seats and struck the pilot, who did not survive. The trainer got out of the helicopter and called for emergency help.

The report said both the pilot and his trainer were licensed, experienced helicopter pilots. The Yukon’s coroner previously identified the deceased pilot as a 47-year-old from Alberta.

One week after the incident, Horizon Helicopters implemented a new policy requiring emergency training to be conducted at an airport with suitable facilities to report wind direction and speed, the report said.

The report recommended that all autorotation training should take place where wind direction and velocity are easily observed.