B. C., Yukon helicopter crashes kill five

VANCOUVER–Two mining-related helicopter crashes have killed five people in less than a week in Western Canada.

On Aug. 6, a helicopter crashed on its way into Bravo Venture Group’s (BVG-V, BVGIF-O) Homestake Ridge project near Stewart, B. C., killing the pilot and all three passengers. Just four days later, a helicopter heading into a mining camp near Carmacks, Yukon, crashed into the Yukon River, killing the pilot.

The flight that resulted in the first crash was part of a routine shift change at Homestake Ridge. The advanced exploration-stage project sits 5 km up the Kitsault Valley from the end of an unfinished road leading north from Alice Arm, an abandoned mining town in northwest B. C.

The chopper took off from the staging area at the end of the road around 7 a. m. in good weather. Shortly afterwards, the pilot sent out a mayday call. It seems the helicopter crashed and then overturned in the fast-flowing Kitsault River.

A search-and-rescue team flew to the scene and saw the landing skid of the crashed helicopter sticking out of the river. Two military search-and- rescue technicians parachuted into the scene but were too late to help. Two bodies were recovered from the wreckage after it was hauled out of the fast-flowing centre of the river into calmer waters. RCMP divers later recovered the other two bodies.

David Jeffery Reid, 60, was the pilot of the Hughes MD 500, which was owned by Prism Helicopters of Pitt Meadows.

All three passengers were contract workers. Frank Moehling, 53, was a Calgary-based geotechnical engineer from Coast Mountain Geological. Also killed were Walter Bodnar, 55, and his nephew Nicholas Bodnar, 27, drillers with Bodnar Drilling. The Bodnars were both from Ste. Rose du Lac, a small Manitoba village some 215 km northwest of Winnipeg.

Bravo has temporarily suspended operations at Homestake, where it had two drill rigs turning and was about to start up a third. The company is planning to complete 7,500 metres of drilling this season to expand the deposit, which currently sits at 12 million tonnes grading 2.36 grams gold, 15 grams silver per tonne and 0.11% copper.

The crash on Aug. 9 involved a Bell 206B helicopter owned by Trans North Air. Pilot Richard James Wood, 67, was alone in the chopper when it fell from the sky as it crossed the Yukon River. Several witnesses saw the helicopter come down but it is not yet known if the craft exploded before hitting the water or if the pilot made any emergency communication prior to impact.

The Transportation Safety Board has two investigators analyzing the crash scene.

Wood, a pilot of more than 30 years, was on his way to pick up a field crew. He had been working for Trans North less than two years after a 16-month break from flying while he battled and overcame colon cancer. He had previously worked as a pilot and instructor for Valley Helicopters in Merritt and Chinook Helicopter in Abbotsford.

At presstime, the name of the mining company that chartered the helicopter had not been released.