By ANTARA News,
Ottawa : A helicopter crashed and burst into flames Tuesday in western Canada, killing the pilot, two passengers and a pedestrian in the town of Cranbrook, an official said.
“The pilot, two passengers, and one person on the ground were killed,” Transportation Safety Board spokesman Bill Yearwood told AFP.
Witnesses told a local newspaper the helicopter had circled before its engine seemingly cut out and it fell 30 meters (98 feet) to the ground.
“The helicopter burst into flame. Everything was utterly incinerated,” said the Cranbrook Daily Townsman.
The helicopter was a Bell 206 Jet Ranger under hire by BC Hydro, a government electrical utility, to inspect power lines, Yearwood said.
“These helicopters are workhorses and are typically used to inspect Hydro lines. However, it’s not clear yet if they were inspecting lines or en route to a worksite at the time of the crash,” he said.
Transportation Safety Board investigators have been despatched to Cranbrook, about 200 kilometers (120 miles) southwest of Calgary, Alberta, to determine the cause of the accident, he said.