A search and rescue helicopter heads toward an avalanche site in a March 14, 2010 photo near Revelstoke, B.C. Rescue crews are searching for a helicopter that went missing east of Revelstoke, B.C., in Glacier National Park on Friday.THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jeff McIntosh
REVELSTOKE – Rescue crews are searching for a helicopter that is believed to have went missing in Glacier National Park, east of Revelstoke, B.C., on Friday.
Pedram Mohyeddin, a spokesperson for Maritime Forces Pacific, says the province’s Joint Rescue Coordination Centre was alerted to the sound of an emergency locator transmitter about 10 nautical miles, or 18 kilometres, east of Revelstoke.
Mohyeddin says crews are now operating as if the ping came from the missing helicopter, which was on its way from Calgary to Sicamous Friday.
He says Search and Rescue, the RCMP and the Civil Air Search and Rescue Association have joined the ground search, but noted that it’s not clear if the helicopter crashed or how many people may have been on board.
Mohyeddin says a search-and-rescue helicopter and a military aircraft were also tasked with finding the missing helicopter, but low visibility due to weather is preventing them from operating.
He says they are grounded but are waiting for a window of better weather to rejoin the search by air and hopefully get a visual on the scene.
“The whole purpose of doing such a wide search and using so many assets in the first hours of a search and rescue is (because) if there’s any possible way that this is a crashed helicopter, then we want to get there to give aid,” he said in an interview Saturday.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Jan. 6, 2024.
