Video shows rescue of lone survivor from deadly B.C. helicopter crash

The Canadian Armed Forces has released a video showing the rescue of a lone survivor from a deadly helicopter crash this week on British Columbia’s rugged central coast.

The Canadian Armed Forces has released a video showing the rescue of a lone survivor from a deadly helicopter crash this week on British Columbia’s rugged central coast. Two RCAF aircraft—a Cormorant helicopter and a Kingfisher search-and-rescue plane—were dispatched from Canadian Forces Base Comox on Vancouver Island after the forestry helicopter crashed Tuesday with three people on board. The pilot and a crew member from a logging company were killed when the Hughes 500 helicopter crashed in Loughborough Inlet at around 6:15 a.m.

A third occupant was found alive in the wreckage by search-and-rescue technicians from 442 Squadron in Comox. Base spokesperson Capt. Sabrina Martellino says the rescuers were lowered into the crash site on steep, mountainous terrain to assist the survivor. The survivor was then hoisted onto the rescue helicopter and flown to the base before being transferred to the care of paramedics.

B.C. Emergency Health Services says the patient was airlifted to hospital in serious but stable condition. Friends and coworkers have identified the deceased as West Coast Helicopters pilot Riley Browne, of Port McNeill, and forestry worker Bobby Nowak, of Cumberland. The Transportation Safety Board of Canada is still investigating the circumstances surrounding the crash.