Federal investigators continue to probe site of fatal N.W.T. helicopter crash
Jon Lee, the board's western regional manager, told CBC News the small team arrived in Yellowknife around noon Tuesday and were on scene during the afternoon and early evening gathering data and statements from eye witnesses.
"Today, that's going to continue — they're going to be working with Great Slave Helicopters collecting information about both the pilot and also the technical information around the helicopter itself," Lee said.
RCMP responded to the crash site, about 1.5 kilometres from Highway 3 near Behchokǫ̀, at noon Monday. They said they did CPR on the pilot, the only person in the aircraft, but he died from his injuries.
The identity of that individual has not been made public.
CBC News has reached out to Great Slave Helicopters about the incident. As of Wednesday morning, the company had not done an interview or made a public statement about it.
N.W.T. Fire has said the helicopter was not a part of its wildfire operations.
Lee said the crash happened in a burned brush area 10 kilometres east of the Behchokǫ̀'s airstrip. He said the aircraft was substantially damaged.
After investigators are done assessing the site, Lee said the next step will be bringing the helicopter back to the Transportation Safety Board's offices in Edmonton for a more detailed technical examination. That will mean co-ordinating recovery with whatever salvage company is hired by an insurance adjuster, he said.
Lee said their investigation will be meticulous and scientific. The TSB will collect information about the people involved, the aircraft itself, and the environment — both the operational environment and the weather. They'll determine whether any of those things contributed to the crash, and from there "areas of concern and safety issues start to emerge from that data collection."
Lee said it's hard to know how long an investigation will take in the early days — it could be a year, or two years. But, he said, if something emerges from the investigation that requires immediate attention, that will happen right away — Transport Canada, Great Slave Helicopters and aircraft manufacturers don't need a final report to come out before they take action.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
CTV News
5 hours ago
- CTV News
Regina garbage truck falls into sinkhole
WATCH: Some residents saw a delay in trash pickup Wednesday, after a garbage truck fell into a sink hole in north Regina.
CBC
6 hours ago
- CBC
Inside the secret plan to relocate a wayward B.C. grizzly bear
As people continue to mourn the loss of a wayward grizzly on an island off the B.C. coast, many are left wondering why the bear wasn't relocated to avoid what some say was its certain fate. In fact, despite the province's repeated claims that the bear had already been moved twice and thus wasn't a good candidate for relocation, a secret plan to transport him to a remote location was in place. "We had a very well thought-out plan and everybody on standby," said Erik Blaney, the shíshálh Nation's acting manager of lands and resources. "He would have been living his best life up there." That plan was laid to rest when conservation officers investigated a report that the grizzly had been shot and wounded, and then discovered its carcass earlier this week. Some local residents were shocked to find out about the relocation plan, given conservation officers' previous claims it would be impossible. Others think the bear could still be alive if they had been given information about the plan. But Blaney says social media and the misinformation that often comes with it made that impossible. Blaney, a legislator with the Tla'amin Nation, says the plan that he had hatched nearly three weeks ago was eventually approved by the province, with some minor changes. Details were kept under wraps and only shared with a handful of people. Some Texada Island residents — many of whom had asked for weeks for the bear to be relocated — are wondering why they weren't made aware of it. "It's unfortunate that the community wasn't [informed]," said Texada Island resident Daniel Cammiade. "[If we had] I think that it's quite possible that the bear would still be alive." Calls for relocation The five-year-old male grizzly was first spotted on Texada Island on May 25. Texada residents say the island is a predator-free community, and many were worried about the bear's presence. While some called for peaceful coexistence with the bear, many others wanted it relocated for its safety and their own. "It seems like things were left in the community's hands — a community that was not used to dealing with bears," Cammiade said. The B.C. Conservation Officer Service repeatedly told CBC News the bear wasn't a good candidate for relocation because it had already been relocated twice, but also said there was no "kill order" for the animal. Solution hatched By the end of June, Blaney's plan had been hatched. Working with the shíshálh, Homalco and Tla'amin nations, he wanted to trap the bear and move it to Bute Inlet, on Homalco territory, where it could live with other coastal grizzlies and be far enough away that it couldn't swim back. "I've worked up there for many years now and it's a pretty hard trek to get into town," Blaney told CBC News. "And there's plentiful salmon runs where we were going to drop them off and a really good pink salmon run expected this year." But the province didn't sign off on that plan. Blaney said the province told him that what they were asking was outside current policy — and that to capture and move the bear without a permit could lead to charges under the Wildlife Act. Change of plans Without informing the public, the province changed its mind. Speaking with CBC's On the Island guest host Kathryn Marlow Wednesday morning, Minister of Water, Land and Resource Stewardship Randene Neill confirmed that the plan was approved almost two weeks ago. "We had a meeting with the local nation there, the Homalco Nation, in partnership with the shíshálh Nation as well, who came up with a really robust, clear plan about how they wanted to translocate it in partnership with the Grizzly Bear Foundation," said Neill, who is also the MLA for Powell River-Sunshine Coast. "After talking to all of our specialists and our team, we agreed to try this translocation." Blaney says the nations worked with provincial officials to remind them that the shíshálh and Tla'amin nations are self-governing, and the province had an obligation to work with them to manage their wildlife resources. "They can't just do the old paternalistic land and resource management around us or without us. Those decisions actually need to be made by the self-governing nations," he said. Kept a secret The exact plan was kept secret, Blaney says, in order not to compromise any of the details. Blaney didn't want people hindering relocation efforts by posting about the trap's location on social media. Texada Island residents had created a Facebook group to post information about the bear, including its location. He says getting the right trap to Texada Island had already been delayed because of a claim on social media that the bear had been shot last week. That led officers to reroute the trap to Pemberton to relocate a bear in that area, Blaney says, and it took days to move the animal and get the trap back to Texada. Blaney says the trap was ready to go Tuesday morning, the day conservation officers announced the bear had been shot. Later that morning, the grizzly was found dead. "We had six staff ready for deployment and the plan in place, helicopter on standby," he said. It was too late. The bear's death is still under investigation.
CTV News
6 hours ago
- CTV News
Calgary children's camp taking different approach toward stuttering
Calgary Watch A camp for children who stutter underway in Calgary is taking a different approach, encouraging kids to embrace the stutter and speak with confidence.
