ultraman69er
12-06-2012, 04:20 AM
By CBC News, cbc.ca, Updated: December-05-12 10:35 PM
One man is dead after a helicopter crash near Slave Lake Wednesday.
Staff Sgt. Roberta McKale with Slave Lake RCMP said the helicopter, which owned by an energy company, was travelling from Peace River to Calgary when its emergency beacon activated at around 12:30 p.m. MT.
RCMP and Canadian Forces members from Cold Lake were joined by two private helicopters in searching for the downed craft.
"Hellicopter pilots are a big family. When one is trouble, they come," McKale said.
The downed craft was spotted in a heavily foreseted area about 12 kilometres southwest of Slave Lake.
McKale said the rough terrain, coupled with the cold weather, meant it was hours before rescuers were able to reach the crash.
"In order to land another helicopter ... [searchers] from Slave Lake was able to have three of the team come in, jump out of the helicopter and cut out a landing pad."
In the wreckage, they found the pilot, 38, who was from the Calgary region. He was the only person in the helicopter.
The cause of the crash is not known, but McKale says the weather was bad at the time of the accident.
"Weather was windy. We had some snow, some blowing snow," she said.
The name of the pilot is not being released.
One man is dead after a helicopter crash near Slave Lake Wednesday.
Staff Sgt. Roberta McKale with Slave Lake RCMP said the helicopter, which owned by an energy company, was travelling from Peace River to Calgary when its emergency beacon activated at around 12:30 p.m. MT.
RCMP and Canadian Forces members from Cold Lake were joined by two private helicopters in searching for the downed craft.
"Hellicopter pilots are a big family. When one is trouble, they come," McKale said.
The downed craft was spotted in a heavily foreseted area about 12 kilometres southwest of Slave Lake.
McKale said the rough terrain, coupled with the cold weather, meant it was hours before rescuers were able to reach the crash.
"In order to land another helicopter ... [searchers] from Slave Lake was able to have three of the team come in, jump out of the helicopter and cut out a landing pad."
In the wreckage, they found the pilot, 38, who was from the Calgary region. He was the only person in the helicopter.
The cause of the crash is not known, but McKale says the weather was bad at the time of the accident.
"Weather was windy. We had some snow, some blowing snow," she said.
The name of the pilot is not being released.