‘ Meticulous’ pilot was at controls of helicopter that crashed Friday

Passengers killed on way to job fair at first nations reserve

Three men killed in a helicopter crash last week were on their way to a local first nations reserve, where they planned to hold a job fair and extol the virtues of staying in school.

But Terrace pilot Peter Bryant, 44, Sicamous engineer Blake Erickson, 48, and pilot Arnaud Jolibois, 44, of Banff, Alta — who all worked for Fort St. John- based Bailey Helicopters — never made it. They were killed when their helicopter went down above the treeline on Sleeping Beauty Mountain, a short distance west of Terrace, on Friday.

“We’re just praying for the families and the employees at Bailey; that’s all we can do right now,” said company director and owner Peter Scheiwiller.

Scheiwiller said the company is still trying to come to grips with the crash, noting Bryant was a skilled and meticulous pilot and highly regarded training captain.

The three men in the crash had worked together in Smithers, he said.

“I flew with Peter 14 days ago,” Scheiwiller said. “He was passionate about flying and doing it the right way, doing it correctly … it’s hard to understand what happened with an individual like Peter in charge.”

The three men were aboard an A- Star 350 helicopter belonging to Bailey Helicopters. Scheiwiller said the trio were on a training flight before heading to a local first nations reserve to give their job fair presentation and urge youth to stay in school. Bryant was aboriginal.

“He was very devoted to the job and wanted to make it better for everyone up there — to show that you can be a pilot or an engineer if you stayed in school,” Scheiwiller said. “He took the reins and totally looked after that.”

He noted Bryant, who was raised in Terrace and married with children, had worked for the company for 11 years.

He was a private man, Scheiwiller said, who was so softspoken that coworkers would have to turn the radio down to hear him speak.

Scheiwiller said Erickson, who also has a family, had just started working for the company about three months ago. Jolibois was single, with family in Belgium.

All three were found dead when search and rescue technicians reached the site later Friday.

The three bodies were removed from the crash scene and flown to Mills Memorial Hospital in Terrace on Saturday afternoon.