Pilot dead after helicopter crash on northern Vancouver Island

The area of Sayward, B.C., on Vancouver Island, is shown in this promotional image. (The Village of Sayward)

A pilot is dead after a helicopter crash near a remote village on northern Vancouver Island.

Airborne rescuers were dispatched by the Joint Rescue Coordination Centre in Victoria at 9 a.m. Wednesday, after receiving an alert from an emergency locator transmitter near Sayward, B.C.

Rescuers aboard the Cormorant helicopter located the downed chopper along the Johnstone Strait at 10 a.m.

The search and rescue team then turned the scene over to the local RCMP, who confirmed Wednesday afternoon that the lone occupant had died in the crash.

The helicopter was moving wood in the area when the crash occurred, according to the Sayward RCMP.

CTV News has learned the downed helicopter belongs to Kestrel Helicopters, based in Parksville, B.C. The company declined to comment on the crash Wednesday.

The Transportation Safety Board (TSB) said in a brief statement that a team of crash investigators were deploying to the Sayward area Wednesday "following a collision with terrain of a helicopter."

Investigators will "gather information and assess the occurrence," the TSB said.

The TSB is working alongside the Mounties and the B.C. Coroners Service to determine the cause of the crash.

Anyone with information about the crash is asked to contact the Sayward RCMP at 250-282-5522.