Search continues for Ont. pilot who crashed while fighting B.C. forest fire
Search continues for Ont. pilot who crashed while fighting B.C. forest fire



August 15, 2009 9:11 p.m.
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LYTTON, B.C. - An Ontario helicopter pilot who was helping to fight one of British Columbia's many forest fires was still missing Saturday, a day after he disappeared during a dramatic rescue attempt on the rushing waters of the Fraser River.

Robert Christopher Woodhead, 53, of Stoney Creek, Ont., was operating a Bell 212 with a water bucket Friday afternoon when the aircraft when down in the Fraser River near Lytton.

Woodhead, who police said was based in British Columbia, was last seen in the water just after the crash by another pilot who watched from the air as the helicopter went down, said RCMP Cpl. Dan Moskaluk.

"A valiant attempt was made by lowering his line and bucket into the river near Mr. Woodhead," Moskaluk said in an interview Saturday.

"However, he was not successful in getting the line to him and did eventually lose visual sight of the pilot in the water."

Woodhead's family in Stoney Creek said they weren't commenting on the crash.

Moskaluk said police were still considering the search and rescue operation, and were concentrating their efforts on the riverbanks in what is considered a particularly rough part of the Fraser Canyon.

He said several boats were in the water and an RCMP helicopter was searching from the air, but a strong current prevented divers from entering the river.

The helicopter was submerged in 15 metres of rushing water.

The Transportation Safety Board, which has launched in investigation into the crash, believes the helicopter was on approach to pick up water when it went down, said agency spokesman Bill Yearwood.

Yearwood said TSB investigators won't arrive until Monday, and in the meantime will figure out how to remove the helicopter from the water.

"The aircraft is not easily accessible, so there's nothing for us to go look at at this point," said Yearwood.

Yearwood said the aircraft was operated by Springbank, Alta.-based Elbow River Helicopters, and was contracted at the time to the British Columbia Forest Service.

Lytton's mayor, Jessoa Lightfoot, said the crash happened in an especially rugged area of the canyon.

"It's very narrow and we have some really severe winds that come through, there's not many roads and it's difficult to reach," she said.

The 12-square-kilometre Intlpam fire near Lytton was first discovered July 25, and is believed to have been caused by lightening.

Lightfoot said people living in her community have been fortunate during this year's fire season, avoiding the large-scale evacuations from the same fire that kept thousands from their homes in Lillooet, about 60 kilometres north of Lytton.

But she said residents are no strangers to the threat of destructive forest fires, and they're grateful for the work of the hundreds of personnel who've been working to control the blaze.

"The helicopters - everyone thinks they're a godsend to come and save the surrounding area," she said.

"Unfortunately, this seems to be an outcome of man-on-nature, one-on-one. I think there's still hope that he may be found."

Trevor Mitchell, a pilot with B.C.-based Arrow Helicopters who has spent the past month fighting fires near Revelstoke, said Woodhead would have been working with a ground crew, who would be co-ordinating his water drops.

Mitchell said flying a helicopter with a water bucket is much the same as operating one of the aircraft without one, but the bucket on the end of a line adds to the difficulty.

"It doesn't seem like much, 180 gallons of water, but it's 1,800 pounds," said Mitchell.

"It's not the hardest work we do, but it does have a bit of skill required."

Mitchell said unlike water bombing, which covers large areas at a time, helicopter water bucketing is a more focused procedure.

"You're placing water strategically where they need it," he said.

"Whereas a tanker comes in and blankets an area, we come in and thread the needle."

Friday's crash was the second this fire season.

A single-engine amphibious water bomber cartwheeled into Okanagan Lake on July 25 after the pilot inadvertently left his landing wheels down. He escaped without injury.

A helicopter pilot and two pilots of a four-engine water bomber died in two crashes during the record 2003 B.C. forest fire season.

News from ©The Canadian Press, 2009
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