Dave H
Well-Known Member
Just received this via e-mail this morning.
By Neil Cameron
Campbell River Courier-Islander
"Long-time Campbell River fishing guide Randy Killoran is said to be in Nanaimo hospital with injuries suffered after a helicopter crash at the head of Bute Inlet Saturday.
One other person is dead after the Campbell River-based helicopter crashed into the Homathko River. Five others, including Killoran, survived the crash and returned safely to Campbell River Saturday evening.
The group, including the pilot, had been bound for a heli-fishing trip, Capt. Ray Jacobson of the Joint Rescue Co-ordination Centre in Victoria, said Sunday.
A source said the helicopter apparently clipped a tree before going down.
Killoran is considered one of the top guides in Campbell River, in both fresh and salt water, especially for his rowing clients in the Tyee Club of British Columbia annual tournament in Campbell River. He is, said a source, “banged up” but fine other than that.
E&B Helicopters of Campbell River, the charter operator, was alerted to a problem late Saturday afternoon when the helicopter’s spot tracker machine stopped working, Jacobson said. The machine tracks the helicopter’s movement.
“They themselves sent their own machines and spotted their helicopter crashed on the river,” Jacobson said. The E&B Helicopters crew located five people on shore, a few kilometres from Scar Creek, but returned without finding the sixth.
“At that time, they called us,” Jacobson said. Joint Rescue received the report at 7:20 p.m. It deployed a Royal Canadian Air Force Cormorant search-and-rescue helicopter from Comox at 10:30 p.m, Jacobson said.
“One of the SAR techs was able to ascertain there was a deceased person in the wreckage,” he said. The Cormorant had been responding to a report of an all-terrain-vehicle accident near Khartoum Lake, in the Powell River area, when the call came in. That caused a delay, Jacobson said.
The Homathko River is part of the Tatlayoko Protected Area on the mainland. It runs between the Mount Waddington glacier and Bute Inlet. The protected area is about 175 kilometres west of Williams Lake. An investigation is ongoing."
Take care.
By Neil Cameron
Campbell River Courier-Islander
"Long-time Campbell River fishing guide Randy Killoran is said to be in Nanaimo hospital with injuries suffered after a helicopter crash at the head of Bute Inlet Saturday.
One other person is dead after the Campbell River-based helicopter crashed into the Homathko River. Five others, including Killoran, survived the crash and returned safely to Campbell River Saturday evening.
The group, including the pilot, had been bound for a heli-fishing trip, Capt. Ray Jacobson of the Joint Rescue Co-ordination Centre in Victoria, said Sunday.
A source said the helicopter apparently clipped a tree before going down.
Killoran is considered one of the top guides in Campbell River, in both fresh and salt water, especially for his rowing clients in the Tyee Club of British Columbia annual tournament in Campbell River. He is, said a source, “banged up” but fine other than that.
E&B Helicopters of Campbell River, the charter operator, was alerted to a problem late Saturday afternoon when the helicopter’s spot tracker machine stopped working, Jacobson said. The machine tracks the helicopter’s movement.
“They themselves sent their own machines and spotted their helicopter crashed on the river,” Jacobson said. The E&B Helicopters crew located five people on shore, a few kilometres from Scar Creek, but returned without finding the sixth.
“At that time, they called us,” Jacobson said. Joint Rescue received the report at 7:20 p.m. It deployed a Royal Canadian Air Force Cormorant search-and-rescue helicopter from Comox at 10:30 p.m, Jacobson said.
“One of the SAR techs was able to ascertain there was a deceased person in the wreckage,” he said. The Cormorant had been responding to a report of an all-terrain-vehicle accident near Khartoum Lake, in the Powell River area, when the call came in. That caused a delay, Jacobson said.
The Homathko River is part of the Tatlayoko Protected Area on the mainland. It runs between the Mount Waddington glacier and Bute Inlet. The protected area is about 175 kilometres west of Williams Lake. An investigation is ongoing."
Take care.
