http://www.cbc.ca/canada/newfoundland-l ... probe.htmlLast Updated: Friday, January 11, 2008 | 12:26 PM NT
CBC News
The Transportation Safety Board of Canada will examine how a helicopter dropped from the sky over St. John's on Thursday, crashing into a wooded area near two subdivisions.
The Royal Newfoundland Constabulary said Friday that two TSB investigators were travelling to St. John's, where two Universal Helicopter pilots survived a crash a few dozen metres from Kenmount Road, a busy arterial road leading out of the city.
RNC Const. Paul Davis said the investigators were expecting to begin their study of the crash scene on Saturday morning.
The pilots were on a training mission Thursday afternoon when the chopper went down in a wooded area off Kenmount Road.
Both were airlifted to the Health Sciences Centre in St. John's. Universal Helicopters president Geoff Goodyear said both men — whom he described as capable, seasoned pilots — were recovering from their injuries.
"They're alert and in great spirits, but obviously still in a lot of discomfort from the accident yesterday," Goodyear told CBC News Friday.
The Royal Newfoundland Constabulary, which had closed traffic on Kenmount Road for several hours while emergency crews responded to the crash, secured the scene overnight.
Traffic in one westbound lane remained closed early Friday to assist crews working at the scene.
The helicopter crashed in a wilderness area north of the Kelsey Drive shopping district, and close to expanding subdivisions off both Kenmount Road and the Elizabeth Park area in Paradise.
Davis said the scene has been prepared for investigators to do their job.
"We've used snowmobiles to try and beat down a path to make it walkable, and right now we do have a walkable surface to go from Kenmount Road into the crash site," Davis said.
Goodyear said Universal Helicopters will assist authorities with the investigation.
He said the initial report he had received was that the helicopter lost power just before it crash-landed.
The two pilots were working on an annual recertification process. Goodyear said in order to maintain Universal's licences, all company pilots must be retrained on every type of aircraft they fly.
He said the two pilots between them had more than 20,000 flight hours of experience.
CTV NewsTwo airlifted to hospital after helicopter crash
Updated Thu. Jan. 10 2008 5:09 PM ET
CTV.ca News Staff
Emergency crews airlifted two passengers involved in a helicopter crash to hospital after their chopper went down in the north end of St. John's, Newfoundland.
Francis Making, a witness who saw the helicopter moments before it crashed, told Newfoundland Television that the aircraft was flying at an angle and "it didn't look right."
Robert Emberly, another witness, told NTV News that he saw the helicopter "just (flying) normally. All of a sudden, you saw its tail flip up one way and she went in the opposite direction."
Making, Emberly, and some police officers saw the chopper go down in a wooded area located merely 60 metres from a busy highway, NTV reported. Witnesses rushed into the woods in search of the victims and soon heard their voices.
Making said the propellers of the helicopter appeared to be fine but its back end looked as if it had broken off.
The crash victims were conscious when they were transported to hospital, according to police, who noted that both appeared to be alert. Making said that "one guy looked like he was pretty banged up."
"The injuries are serious, but I don't believe (they're) life threatening, from what I saw," Don Byrne of the St. John's Regional Fire Department told CTV Newsnet.
Byrne added that the company that owned the helicopter used another chopper to airlift the victims to hospital. Weather does not appear to have been a factor in the accident. The helicopter -- which was not a military aircraft -- was conducting a training exercise, Byrne said.
Officials from Environment Canada were on the scene Thursday afternoon cleaning up fuel that spilled out from the helicopter. Byrne said the area around the crash site will be closed off while Transport Canada officials conduct an investigation into the cause of the accident.
