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.

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.

Rescuers aboard a helicopter located the downed chopper along the Jonstone 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.

The downed helicopter belongs to Kestrel Helicopters, based in Parksville, B.C.

The Transportation Safety Board investigators will gather information and assess the occurrence.

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.