Prince George Search and Rescue crews prepare their gear in a staging area at Purden Lake Resort near the site of a helicopter crash, east of Prince George, B.C., on Sept. 26.James Doyle/The Canadian Press
Rescuers hiked into the bush Tuesday to a helicopter crash off a highway east of Prince George, B.C., finding two dead people and four others who had survived, some with only minor injuries.
Authorities have not said who owns the Bell 206L helicopter, but lumber giant Canfor Corp. has confirmed that it had hired the pilot to transport five forestry surveyors it contracted in the region.
Melanie Perrin, the public safety manager of the local Fraser-Fort George Regional District who attended the scene in her role as a volunteer firefighter, said it is remarkable that four people escaped alive. The helicopter came to rest on its side, but, thankfully she said, did not break apart or appear to catch fire on impact.
“Very tragically, we lost two,” she said Tuesday afternoon.
Arthur Williams of the Northern Health authority confirmed Tuesday that four patients from the crash site were treated at the University Hospital of Northern B.C., with all in good condition and some even expected to “be discharged from the hospital today.”
The proximity of the aircraft to the highway and the less-dense brush aided first responders in getting to the victims, Ms. Perrin said.
“It was an accessible site and that’s not always the case for an aircraft incident.”
Ms. Perrin, a captain with the volunteer Beaverly Fire Department east of Prince George, heard her pager go off Tuesday at 8:08 a.m. local time as she was dropping her children off at school – roughly 20 minutes after the helicopter reportedly crashed. Soon, she and five other firefighters were in one of three local engines rushing to respond to the crash, which occurred just north of the highway by a lake some 50 kilometres east of the largest city in Northern B.C.
Paramedics also attended. When Ms. Perrin and her crew arrived, the last of the ambulances was leaving.
Police and coroners were also on scene gathering evidence related to the two people who died. Meanwhile, the suburban firefighters, who respond to potential blazes outside the municipal boundaries of Prince George, combed the area and did not need to put out any forest fires sparked by the crash, Ms. Perrin said.
They also had to chainsaw a few trees, she said, in order for the stretchers to take away the two bodies.
“It was a very bad day,” said Ms. Perrin, who added that the volunteer firefighters from three responding departments were going through debrief sessions Tuesday to process the trauma of the event.
Liam MacDonald, a spokesperson with the federal Transportation Safety Board, said a team of investigators was headed to the downed helicopter, just north of the Purden Ski Hill, a mountain resort.
Mr. MacDonald said safety board investigators will gather information, examine the wreckage, and conduct witness interviews before deciding how to classify the investigation. Depending on the classificaton, Mr. MacDonald said, the probe could take months or up to two years to complete.
Corporal Jennifer Cooper of Prince George RCMP said her detachment’s victims services unit is now providing support to the families of the two people who died.
Canfor said in an e-mailed statement that it had hired all the victims to do survey work in the field, but none of them were full-time employees of the Vancouver-based pulp and lumber giant.
“We are deeply saddened by the news of the tragic crash involving an independent helicopter and its passengers this morning near Purden Lake, B.C.,” said vice-president of communications Michelle Ward in the statement.
“We mourn the loss of the two workers whose lives were heartbreakingly cut short and send condolences to their families and friends. Our thoughts are also with the passengers who are recovering from injuries today.”
With a report from The Canadian Press
Mike Hager