SILVERTON — A submerged helicopter was recovered from Copper Lake on Wednesday, exactly two months after it crashed into part of the watershed that provides drinking water for Snohomish County.
Local and state agencies waited for a clear weather window of at least two days to pursue the removal. Officials worried the sunken helicopter would contaminate the lake flowing into Williamson Creek, and ultimately, the Spada Lake reservoir.
But to extract the helicopter, contractors needed to fly two helicopters into the remote area, since it’s all but inaccessible to hikers. And poor flying weather and dropping temperatures increased chances the crashed helicopter would remain in the lake until next year.
Then a weather window opened this week.
Commercial divers from Global Diving and Salvage attached hoisting equipment to the helicopter, and then two helicopters from Northwest Helicopters lifted the aircraft out of the water, according to the Snohomish County Public Utility District. Contractors transported the helicopter to the PUD’s helipad at the Henry M. Jackson Powerhouse where it was loaded onto a trailer.
The City of Everett, PUD, state Department of Ecology and Department of Natural Resources employees were present for the operation.
All costs associated with the removal were covered by the responsible party, though Kellie Stickney, spokesperson for the PUD, said she could not provide an exact number.
“While the book is not yet closed on this incident, the worst in terms of risk to public health and safety, and to the environment, appears to have passed,” Paul McFarland, natural areas manager for the state Department of Natural Resources, said in an email to local environmentalists.
The helicopter had 60 gallons of fuel on board when a pilot from Arlington-based WorldWind Helicopters, Inc., and four passengers crashed into the water around 8:30 p.m. on Sept. 8. No one was injured. The National Transportation Safety Board continued investigating the incident this week.
Copper Lake as seen from Vesper Peak on Oct. 8, 2023. A helicopter trying to land on the south end of the lake — the nearest shoreline in the image — crashed into the water in early September. (Caleb Hutton / The Herald)
McFarland and an Ecology employee were at Copper Lake as the helicopter was removed. He said there was a small sheen at the surface during the removal process, suspected to be grease from the helicopter’s rotator shaft, said Ty Keltner, communications manager for Ecology. But because oil is volatile, it quickly dissipated and did not appear to be an environmental concern, Keltner said.
The helicopter recovery team also removed several pieces of debris, as well as the oil boom that Ecology had placed at the outlet of Copper Lake after the crash.
Part of Copper Lake sits in the Morning Star Natural Resources Conservation Area, a DNR property where landing aircraft is illegal. The northern and western shores of Copper Lake are owned by the U.S. Forest Service, where — before Sept. 8 — “commercial” landings were allowed with a permit. Officials have not said if they believe the flight was private or commercial.
State officials believe the pilot landed in the Morning Star area when dropping off an initial group of four passengers, with a plan to land there again. But on the second approach, the helicopter crashed.
The Forest Service issued an area closure on Sept. 29 of its portions of Copper Lake, bannning helicopter landings at the site for the next two years.
Joe Neal, ranger for the Skykomish ranger district, said the Forest Service still plans to pursue a permanent helicopter ban for those areas of Copper Lake, under the National Environmental Policy Act.
Bill Lider, principal engineer for Lynnwood-based Lider Engineering, consulted with officials from the state DNR and Forest Service for weeks about removing the helicopter. Last month, he spoke to the PUD’s Board of Commissioners, urging the agency and the Forest Service to collaborate on prohibiting fly-in tourism in the Spada Lake watershed.
He was also one of the concerned parties copied on McFarland’s email update about the removal.
“This is certainly good news,” Lider wrote in a reply-all response. “I am pleasantly surprised and glad to hear that this source of pollution has been removed from our drinking water supply. Now the next step is to make sure that this never happens again.”
Ta’Leah Van Sistine: 425-339-3460; taleah.vansistine@heraldnet.com; Twitter: @TaLeahRoseV.
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