1 year after fatal helicopter crash, grieving mother visits the N.W.T. site where her son died

Alexandra Wilson's son, 32-year-old pilot Joshua Patenaude, was flying as part of the Tłı̨chǫ government's reforestation project last year when the crash happened near Behchokǫ̀. "There's no coming back from the fact that he's not in our lives anymore," Wilson said.

1 year after fatal helicopter crash, grieving mother visits the N.W.T. site where her son died Pilot Joshua Patenaude, 32, died while working on Tłı̨chǫ government's reforestation project When Alexandra Wilson trekked this week to the site where her son died in a fatal helicopter crash one year ago, she brought a few stones with her — including one that she had carried with her all year. She used that one to mark a sort of milestone in her grieving process. "I left that stone there," she said on Wednesday, the day after her visit to the site near Behchoko, N.W.T. "It's gonna be year two, and that's gonna be a whole other thing, right?

Like, there's no coming back from the fact that he's not in our lives anymore." Joshua Patenaude, 32, was flying for Great Slave Helicopters in the N.W.T. when he was killed on July 14, 2025. He was supporting the Tłı̨chǫ government's reforestation project when the crash happened about a kilometre and a half from Highway 3 near Behchokǫ̀. Patenaude was the only person on board the aircraft.

The Transportation Safety Board is still investigating the cause of the crash. Wilson, who lives in Vancouver, had never been to the N.W.T. before this week. Speaking to CBC News, she reflected on her son's life, his love of flying, and what he meant to the people who knew him.

She recalled a small memorial service that was organized for Patenaude last year down south, not long after the crash. "Over the course of the afternoon, there were five different people who said to me, 'you know, I was his best friend, he was my best friend,'" Wilson recalled. "I think that that really just says a lot."

Wilson described how her son became a pilot, after being involved in an "awful accident" a few years ago. Patenaude required several surgeries on his leg and the ordeal left the natural athlete with a limp, Wilson said. "I remember thinking, you know, my God, this is the kind of thing ... that either makes you or breaks you, right?"

Wilson recalled. Patenaude had trained to be a chef but Wilson said his injuries meant it would be hard to do a job that kept him on his feet all day. He spent about a year thinking of what else he might do, Wilson recalled, before deciding to pursue his pilot's licence.

To Wilson, it made sense. "He could get out there into remote places that he wouldn't have been able to hike into anymore," she said. "Flying was another way to be up in the world."

'Golden retriever energy' Patenaude had moved to Yellowknife about a year and a half before the crash, Wilson said. Soon, he was volunteering with Northwest Territories Equitable Sports Access (NTESA), a local non-profit that works to help more young people get involved in sports by offering programs, covering registration fees or providing gear. Patenaude played on the organization's soccer and slo-pitch teams.

To T.J. Ebbeling, another volunteer at NTESA, Patenaude was "a really good dude and ... a great friend," and someone with "golden retriever energy." "He was just always like, his tail was always wagging," Ebbeling said. "It was hard to have a bad time when he was around.

And I feel like that was very contagious and rubbed off on everybody." He said Patenaude also had a knack for connecting with the kids NTESA worked with, and was a mentor to many of them. "He was like a rock for a lot of them ... he was consistent.

And I feel like that's what a lot of the kids were missing in their lives," Ebbeling said. "When you think about somebody who's like, a great community member and a great volunteer, he definitely embodied a lot of that." Memorial scholarship Ebbeling says that's why NTESA, in partnership with the Yellowknife Community Foundation, established a scholarship fund in Patenaude's name.

It's aimed at youth who have faced hardships and are now pursuing an educational or training program. There were more than 100 applicants for the $1,000 award this year, Ebbeling said, and the winner will be announced this month. To Wilson, the scholarship is a perfect way to honour her son's memory.

She loves that it's not based on academic grades, as "school was not Josh's favourite thing." Rather, it's aimed at youth who have faced hardships in their life and are now pursuing an educational or training program. "Which is amazing, just so amazing," she said.

Reflecting on the months since losing her son, Wilson struggled to put her experience into words. She said it's been a year full of "ups and downs." Going to the crash site on Wednesday, which some of the tree planters from the Tłı̨chǫ reforestation project had marked with a small cross, was difficult, she said — but also strangely peaceful, and moving.

"It was kind of wonderful to see the fireweed and the little lodgepole pines and you know, the birch coming back," she said. "I was a bit worried it was going to be like a moon landscape, you know — but you could see the growth happening." With files from Jared Monkman and Shannon Scott