The Canadian crew of a scheduled helicopter passenger flight is being hailed for a successful emergency landing after lightning almost blew off the tail rotor of the aircraft they were flying. The Helijet Sikorsky S-76 was on its way from downtown Vancouver to Victoria, on Vancouver Island, when it was struck. The lightning took off two of the four tail rotor blades and sent the helicopter into a dive. The aircraft dropped from 4,000 feet to 1,300 feet before the crew could arrest the descent.
This is a companion discussion topic for the original entry at https://www.avweb.com/aviation-news/lightning-damages-helicopter-tailrotor