CRANBROOK, British Columbia — A helicopter plunged to the ground and burst into flames in a residential neighborhood, killing the three people aboard and one person on the ground, officials said.
The aircraft flew over central Cranbrook for a few minutes before plummeting, striking and dragging a passer-by as it came down Tuesday afternoon, said Elmer Bautz, a witness to the crash.
The “pedestrian was walking on the street across from me,” Bautz said.
The Bell 206 Jet Ranger left a trail of flames and wreckage as it skidded for several yards along a street in Cranbrook, 500 miles east of Vancouver.
The pilot apparent had no time to issue a warning, Royal Canadian Mounted Police Cpl. Chris Faulkner said.
“We have no information that the pilot made any call of distress or anything like that,” Faulkner said. “It appears to be something that happened very quickly.”
Bill Yearwood, a spokesman for Canada’s Transportation Safety Board, said the pilot, two passengers in the helicopter and a pedestrian died. Cause of the crash remained under investigation.
Those aboard the chopper were identified by authorities Wednesday as Edward William Kyle Heeb, 57, a senior pilot with Bighorn Helicopters Inc. of Cranbrook, and two British Columbia Hydro employees, Dirk Bentley Rozenboom, 45, and Robert William Lehmann, 37.
The Globe and Mail of Toronto quoted a friend of the pedestrian as saying he was Isaiah Otieno, 23, of Kenya, an international student who had been studying in Cranbrook for two years. Police did not immediately confirm that.
Officials said Hydro, the provincial electrical utility, hired the helicopter to take the two employees to a work site.
Bautz said several people living nearby tried to help pull people from the wreckage.
Mary Fiorention, who lives about two blocks from the crash site, said it landed very close to houses.
A spokesman for the company said he couldn’t comment on the crash while the Transportation Safety Board investigates.
“The management and staff at Bighorn Helicopters would like to offer their deepest sympathies and condolences to those involved in this tragic accident,” Murray Whyte said.
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