Skip to content
Join our Newsletter

Canfor forestry contractors on helicopter that crashed, killing 2 near Prince George

Vancouver-based forestry firm not revealing the contracting firm nor the helicopter's owner
princegeorgecredittedclarkpgcitizen
Coroner arrives near the scene of a helicopter crash east of Prince George on Sept. 26. Forest products firm Canfor says hired contractors on their way to conduct field survey work for the company were on board a helicopter that crashed outside Prince George, B.C., killing two and injuring four. | Prince George Citizen staff

Forest products firm Canfor says hired contractors on their way to conduct field survey work for the company were on board a helicopter that crashed outside Prince George, B.C., killing two and injuring four. 

Emergency crews were called just before 8 a.m. Tuesday after the helicopter crashed near Purden Lake off Highway 16, with six people on board. 

Vancouver-based Canfor says in a statement issued Wednesday that the survey crew, the helicopter and its pilot were contracted for field work, but the company would not reveal the contracting firm nor the helicopter's owner. 

Michelle Ward, Canfor's vice-president of corporate communications, says the company is "deeply saddened" by the crash that killed two people. 

Ward says Canfor is mourning the deaths of the contracted workers, and offers condolences to the friends and family for the lives that "were heartbreakingly cut short." 

Transportation Safety Board spokesman Liam MacDonald says the board's investigators were scheduled to arrive at the scene of the crash on Wednesday. 

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 27, 2023. 

The Canadian Press