Helicopter crash kills four in Ontario
Hydro workers were involved in work north of Kingston
TWEED, Ont. — Four Hydro One employees were killed Thursday when the helicopter they were travelling in crashed in a field in eastern Ontario, police and the utility reported.
No one survived the crash that occurred just before noon EST outside Tweed, north of Kingston, provincial police said.
Kim Clayton, who lives near the crash site, said Hydro One crews had been working for weeks on the power lines strung on the towers that cross the property, and she has become used to hearing them fly back and forth.
Clayton said there was no indication of any trouble until a loud crash shook the house. She scrambled to a window, where she said she saw part of the chopper in the trees that surround an open field.
Crew members were running around, yelling that a helicopter had crashed and to call 911, she said.
“My heart started pounding in my chest,” said Clayton, who moved to the property six weeks ago.
The helicopter was apparently heading for a landing, Clayton said.
The Tweed fire department and several provincial police cruisers responded to the crash, but there was little they could do. Ontario’s air ambulance service was also called to the scene but left without loading any casualties.
In a statement, Hydro One expressed its condolences to the victims’ families.
“We are deeply saddened to confirm that an incident involving one of our helicopter aircraft occurred in the Tweed area and has resulted in four fatalities,” Hydro One said in a statement.
“Names will not be released as next of kin are being notified.”
The utility also said it will try to help employees and families affected by the tragedy.
A Transportation Safety Board team of investigators was expected to arrive at the crash site by late Thursday afternoon.
Board spokesman Alex Fournier said the chopper was a 1999 AS350 B2 — a single-engine utility helicopter often used by police and corporations.