Helicopter crash in Cranbrook, B.C. kills four including pedestrian --------------------------------------------------------------------------------
at 23:35 on May 13, 2008, EDT. By James Stevenson, THE CANADIAN PRESS
An onlooker watches as flames engulf the wreckage of a helicopter crash in Cranbrook. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Shantelle Araneda CRANBROOK, B.C. - A pedestrian crushed Tuesday under the exploding fireball of a crashed helicopter had little warning of the tragedy, witnesses said.
The man was walking along a residential street in the quiet community of Cranbrook, B.C., when the chopper dropped out of the sky and onto the pavement, killing three people on board the aircraft and the pedestrian below.
The chopper exploded into a fireball as it hit the street, leaving a trail of flames and wreckage as it skidded for several metres along the street.
"There was a pedestrian walking on the street across from me and he was just about at the back alley and I don't think he even knew what hit him," Elmer Bautz, who saw the crash from his front window, told The Canadian Press in a telephone interview.
"It actually touched the pedestrian and I think that's when it decapitated (him)."
The Transportation Safety Board confirmed the four deaths - the pilot and two passengers in the helicopter and the pedestrian - and said the aircraft was a Bell 206 JetRanger hired by BC Hydro.
RCMP Cpl. Chris Faulkner said while the situation is awful, it could have been much, much worse.
The residential street where the aircraft went down is lined with houses and apartment buildings. There are two elementary schools within blocks of the crash site
"Man, oh man. It's tragic, but very lucky there weren't more deaths in this situation," Faulkner said.
Bautz said he had seen the small blue-and-white helicopter flying above his neighbourhood before, and it was flying low above the houses for several minutes Tuesday without any problems.
But he said something seemed amiss just seconds before the helicopter came crashing down.
"My friend and I, we could tell there was something wrong because he was kind of fluttering and sputtering and I kind of thought there was trouble but it happened so bloody quick," Bautz said.
"He came down at about a 45-degree angle, and he came down pretty fast and it exploded into a fireball. . . . It was tremendously loud."
Bautz said several nearby residents tried pulling people from the wreckage but to no avail.
One of those people was Rick Schram, who also saw the helicopter crash down.
"When the helicopter landed on the pedestrian, it looked like he saw it at the last second but couldn't get out of the way," Schram told the Cranbrook Daily Townsman.
Four or five people who rushed to the scene took off their shirts and jackets and tried to put out the fire on the pedestrian's body, but they were unable to save the unidentified man.
Schram said before the crash, the helicopter was flying low, as if it "was looking for a place to land."
"We thought they were looking for somebody in the area because they were so low," Spring said. "With the colour of the helicopter we thought it was RCMP."
He added: "It's something you can't believe you're seeing."
The helicopter was operated by Bighorn Helicopters Inc., based in Cranbrook.
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...This happened just down the street from my house.
