A helicopter company says two people are dead and another is injured after a helicopter crash near north Vancouver Island Tuesday morning.

Sean Smyth, general manager of West Coast Helicopters, said the helicopter was operating in Loughborough Inlet for forestry operations when the crash happened.

He said an experienced pilot who worked for him was one of the two people who died.

“We’re a tight-knit crew,” he said. “It’s been hard on everybody.”

Smyth added the pilot was a key member of his crew, and was “very well liked, a very hard worker, very good at what he did.”

The two passengers on board were engineers working with a forestry operations company, according to Smyth.

Details around the crash are still unknown, Smyth said, adding that his company will be open and transparent about what happened.

1 person in hospital

The Victoria-based Joint Rescue Coordination Centre (JRCC) says it was notified of a helicopter crash by an emergency locator transmitter signal at about 6:30 a.m. PT, and a Cormorant helicopter and a Kingfisher aircraft from 19 Wing Comox responded.

JRCC said three people were recovered and taken to local health services.

B.C. Emergency Health Services (BCEHS) says it received a call about the incident at Stafford Lake, near Bute Inlet, and responded with two air ambulances and a ground ambulance.

“Paramedics provided emergency medical care to one patient who was flown out to the Canadian Forces Base in Comox,” said BCEHS.

“The patient was then transported by air ambulance to hospital in serious but stable condition.” 

The Transportation Safety Board says a team of investigators is being deployed and will be arriving at the accident site tomorrow morning.