Recovery comes six days after helicopter went down in the Skeena mountains, killing three
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The RCMP and Terrace Search and Rescue on Sunday recovered three bodies from the scene of a ski-helicopter accident that occurred on Jan. 22.
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The news came a day after Northern Escape Heli-Skiing president John Forrest had called for the Royal Canadian Air Force to be called in to assist in recovery of the bodies.
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The crash, involving a Skyline Helicopters Augusta Westland A119 Koala, claimed the lives of Italian tourists Heiner Junior (Heinzl) Oberrauch, 29, 35-year-old Andreas Widman and the helicopter pilot, who has not yet been identified.
The helicopter was being operated by Northern Escape Heli-Skiing.
Four others were injured, including Oberrauch’s older brother Jakob Oberrauch, 34, the CEO of family sporting-goods business Sportler; Johannes Peer, 34, also a Sportler executive, and 35-year-old Emilio Zierock.
On Sunday, Forrest thanked everyone involved in the rescue and recovery operation.
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“The team at Northern Escape, together with our mutual aid neighbour White Wilderness Heliskiing, put all of their collective decades and decades of training into action to safely bring the four injured patients down the mountain to receive further medical care,” Forrest said.
“That rescue mission was assisted through the off-mountain support of the B.C. Ambulance Service, the team at Mills Memorial Hospital, the RCMP and the volunteer Terrace Search and Rescue team.
“Once our teams rescued the four injured people off the mountain, the helicopter accident site was closed, so we relied on the RCMP, Terrace Search and Rescue and others to take on the important responsibility of recovering those lost. We are pleased that today, thanks to the dedication of those groups, the recovery mission of the three individuals has also been completed.
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“Thank you to everyone who has been involved in the rescue and recovery missions, including every single Northern Escape team member, White Wilderness Heliskiing, HeliCat Canada, B.C. Ambulance Service, the team at Mills Memorial Hospital, the RCMP and Terrace Search and Rescue.”
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