3 dead, 4 in critical condition after heli-skiing crash north of Terrace, B.C.
CBC has confirmed 2 of the 3 dead are tourists from Italy
An injured heli-ski clientwho survived a crash that killed threewas the one whocalled for help after theaircraft hit the side of a mountain.
Four peoplein the helicopterwere badly injured in the accident,which took place Monday afternoon 30 kilometres north of Terrace, B.C.
In a media conference Tuesday, John Forrest, president of Northern Escape Heli-Skiing, said the client alerted the company of the crash on a radio provided to guests.
"At that time we activated our rescue protocols includingceasing skiing activitiesand activating search and rescue.Our other twohelicopters in the area immediatelyresponded and joined rescue efforts along with our team of guides," said Forrest.
Forrest said the crash happened near the top of a mountain,typically about 2,000 metres high in the area.
"At the moment it's unclear what the cause of the incident was," he said. "We simply don't know what happened."
CBC has confirmedtwo of the people who diedare tourists from Italy. One is Andreas Widmann, 35, an executive with Italian sportswear manufacturer Texmarket.The other is Heiner(Heinzl)Oberrauch ,29, son of the founder of Sportler, an Italian sporting goods company.
Both Texmarket and Sportler are headquartered in Bolzano in the SouthTyrol region of Italy.
In a social media post, Italy'sDeputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Antonio Tajaniexpressed hiscondolences.
"I join in the pain of the families who lost their loved ones in the terrible helicopter crash in Canada. I have instructed our consulate [in Vancouver]to provide maximum assistance to the injured compatriots. I sincerely wish them a speedy recovery," he said.
Police have said they are not releasing the names and hometowns of the victimsuntil next of kin have been notified.
The four injured were taken to Mills Memorial Hospital in Terrace, a city of around 12,000 people that lies around 690 kilometres northwest of Vancouver.
According to a statement Tuesday from Northern Health, all four injuredwere subsequently transported to other centres in B.C. for higher levels of care. Tworemain in critical conditionand two are listed inserious condition.
The helicopter that crashed was a Koala Agusta A119 leasedfrom Skyline Helicopters in Kelowna.Forrest said his company hasbeen leasing the same helicopters for 20 years.
"Every helicopter comes with a pilot and an engineer, and the engineer maintains the helicopter daily," he said. "So there was certainly no indication of any mechanical issues at all."
In a statement, Skyline presidentTeri Northcottsaid the company would work withauthorities investigating the crash.
B.C. Emergency Health Services said it was notified of the crash at about 4:15 p.m. PTand dispatched three air ambulances and five ground ambulances.
Beside Northern Escape's two other helicopters, a third from another company White Wilderness Heli-Skiing was called in to help shuttlethe foursurviving passengers from the mountaincrash site to emergency responders.
The Transportation Safety Board (TSB), B.C. Coroners Service, WorkSafeBCand RCMP are investigatingthe crash.
"Once wehave the TSB report, which will take a while,we'll have a better understanding of what happened," said Forrest."Currently, it looks like it's just a terrible accident. You know, there's not always someone to blame in thesethings."
Northern Escapehas paused operations to undertake a critical incident stress debriefbut Forrest said he is planning to reopen the business.
In an earlier statement, Forrest expressed condolences.
"It is impossible to put into words the profound grief that we feel and the sorrow that our guests and our staff share," he said.
with files from Karin Larsen, Meera Bains and Jason Proctor
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