Fatal helicopter crash: the pilot’s daughter filmed the scene
LEFEBVRE | The daughter of the veteran airline pilot who lost her life on Tuesday when her helicopter exploded mid-flight saw her father die before her eyes as she filmed the scene.
“The helicopter exploded in flight. I have it in live on my videos », confided on Tuesday to the Log Vicky Desmarais, 40, on her way to identify the body of her father, Sylvain.
Photo taken from Facebook
Vicky Desmarais, daughter of Sylvain Desmarais, airplane pilot
The home-built RotorWay helicopter belonging to the 64-year-old reportedly gained altitude before catching fire, his daughter said. He then crashed heavily to the ground. It was early afternoon, around 12:40 p.m.
The sexagenarian, alone on board, was flying over agricultural land located on the 10e Rang, in the municipality of Lefebvre, a little south of Drummondville.
Screenshot, TVA Nouvelles
The helicopter crashed Tuesday in a ditch in farmland near Drummondville.
According to his daughter, the multi-seat aircraft had a problem during a practice flight by the experienced pilot.
« His helicopters are his toys when he was having fun at home, » she said. We were doing tricks. It’s a technical failure. »
Death of his passion
Mme Desmarais also wanted to point out that his father had a remarkable background as a pilot, and that he was not just a farmer who flew over his land.
Photo taken from Facebook
Sylvain Desmarais, who died in the crash, was an aviation enthusiast.
« It wasn’t a two of spades who didn’t know what to do with a plane, » she said confidently. He is a professional driver who had fun, because it was his pleasure, his passion. »
Sylvain Desmarais had, according to his daughter, more than 47 years of flight experience, including forty years as a pilot of aircraft that put out fires.
“He was flying CL-415s. He had his international licenses,” she listed.
“He had also been flying helicopters for three years,” continued Mr.me Swamps.
She described her father as a piano player, a born farmer and above all a smiling, jovial « gentleman », who was « always inclined to laugh ».
“My father died doing what he loved doing the most in the world,” she testified.
A big boom
The aircraft crashed into a ditch in a field not far from the house of Alain Favreau and Sylvie Labonté.
Photo Anouk Lebel
Alain Favreau and Sylvie Labonté used to see Mr. Desmarais flying above their home.
“We saw it pass just above our garage and we heard a big boom during the children’s nap”, reports the mother of the family.
The aviation enthusiast often circulated around the house, underlines his spouse, who saw him pass no earlier than Sunday.
“He circled the village and the house two or three times. At one point it came down really fast right behind our house. He had to stop to check his propeller,” he says.
Ongoing investigation
On Tuesday evening, police and investigators were examining the remains of the crashed helicopter and the surrounding area, armed with flashlights.
A small homemade device of this kind has no black box and the testimony of the victim’s daughter could prove crucial in the investigation, according to Jean Lapointe, pilot and civil aviation expert.
Photo taken from Facebook
Sylvain Desmarais
“It will be played out between the man, the machine and the environment, whether a human error of the pilot has taken place, a technical failure or if the weather conditions could have caused the crash”, he said. Explain.
He hopes that the investigation by the Transportation Safety Board of Canada will shed light on the circumstances of the crash and prevent such accidents from happening again.
journaldequebec
