Pilot dead after helicopter crash on northern Vancouver Island
A pilot is dead after a helicopter crash near a remote village on northern Vancouver Island.
Airborne rescuers were dispatched by the Joint Rescue Coordination Centre in Victoria at 9 a.m. Wednesday, after receiving an alert from an emergency locator transmitter near Sayward, B.C.
Rescuers aboard the Cormorant helicopter located the downed chopper along the Johnstone Strait at 10 a.m.
The search and rescue team then turned the scene over to the local RCMP, who confirmed Wednesday afternoon that the lone occupant had died in the crash.
The helicopter was moving wood in the area when the crash occurred, according to the Sayward RCMP.
CTV News has learned the downed helicopter belongs to Kestrel Helicopters, based in Parksville, B.C. The company declined to comment on the crash Wednesday.
The Transportation Safety Board (TSB) said in a brief statement that a team of crash investigators were deploying to the Sayward area Wednesday "following a collision with terrain of a helicopter."
Investigators will "gather information and assess the occurrence," the TSB said.
The TSB is working alongside the Mounties and the B.C. Coroners Service to determine the cause of the crash.
Anyone with information about the crash is asked to contact the Sayward RCMP at 250-282-5522.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
More than 115 cases of eye damage reported in Ontario after solar eclipse
More than 115 people who viewed the solar eclipse in Ontario earlier this month experienced eye damage after the event, according to eye doctors in the province.
Toxic testing standoff: Family leaves house over air quality
A Sherwood Park family says their new house is uninhabitable. The McNaughton's say they were forced to leave the house after living there for only a week because contaminants inside made it difficult to breathe.
Decoy bear used to catch man who illegally killed a grizzly, B.C. conservation officers say
A man has been handed a lengthy hunting ban and fined thousands of dollars for illegally killing a grizzly bear, B.C. conservation officers say.
B.C. seeks ban on public drug use, dialing back decriminalization
The B.C. NDP has asked the federal government to recriminalize public drug use, marking a major shift in the province's approach to addressing the deadly overdose crisis.
OPP responds to apparent video of officer supporting anti-Trudeau government protestors
The Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) says it's investigating an interaction between a uniformed officer and anti-Trudeau government protestors after a video circulated on social media.
An emergency slide falls off a Delta Air Lines plane, forcing pilots to return to JFK in New York
An emergency slide fell off a Delta Air Lines jetliner shortly after takeoff Friday from New York, and pilots who felt a vibration in the plane circled back to land safely at JFK Airport.
Sophie Gregoire Trudeau on navigating post-political life, co-parenting and freedom
Sophie Gregoire Trudeau says there is 'still so much love' between her and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, as they navigate their post-separation relationship co-parenting their three children.
Last letters of pioneering climber who died on Everest reveal dark side of mountaineering
George Mallory is renowned for being one of the first British mountaineers to attempt to scale the dizzying heights of Mount Everest during the 1920s. Nearly a century later, newly digitized letters shed light on Mallory’s hopes and fears about ascending Everest.
Loud boom in Hamilton caused by propane tank, police say
A loud explosion was heard across Hamilton on Friday after a propane tank was accidentally destroyed and detonated at a local scrap metal yard, police say.