Cause of deadly helicopter crash in Ontario unknown, TSB investigating

TWEED, Ont. (NEWS 1130) – Hydro One says four of its employees have been killed in a helicopter crash in eastern Ontario.

Provincial police say the crash occurred about noon in Tweed, north of Kingston.

Transportation Safety Board investigator Peter Rowntree says his team is on the ground working to figure out what happened, but adds it will take time to provide answers to the families of the crash victims.

“First and foremost our condolences go out to the families,” he says. “This is a very, very tragic accident so we want to get them answers as quickly as we can, but we need time to do our work.”

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.

TSB investigators will continue to work through the debris in order to pin point a cause for the crash.

“We will document the scene, photograph the scene, and gather as much information at the scene as we can,” Rowntree explains. “At some point the wreckage will be removed to another facility so we can examine it in a warmer climate.”

Homeowner Kim Clayton says hydro crews had been working on her property for weeks and she was used to hearing them fly back and forth.

She says the loud crash shook her house, sending her to a window, where she says she saw part of the chopper in the trees in the distance by an open field.

Hydro One is expressing its condolences to the loved ones of those killed.

Police say family members have been notified, but names of the four Hydro One employees are not being released. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau expressed his sympathies to the families of the crash victims in a message on social media.

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