A helicopter was spotted landing in Kalamalka Lake Provincial Park, the same day a helicopter crashed near Enderby.
Several witnesses saw an R44 Chopper near Cosen’s Bay Aug. 12 in the evening.
“Seems like it matches the one that crashed in the river,” said Jessie Gottlieb, who saw the helicopter at the park at 6:45 p.m. Saturday before it left around 7 p.m. heading up the valley towards Coldstream.
A helicopter crashed into Shuswap River in the 2700 block of Mabel Lake Road Saturday evening, shortly after 8 p.m. Emergency personnel responded with eight ambulances and three people were taken to hospital with what were believed to be non-life threatening injuries.
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One person, believed to be the pilot, left the scene in a vehicle prior to the arrival of emergency personnel and remains unaccounted for.
A Chihuahua, named Chalupa, was also aboard and did not survive the crash.
The cause of the crash remains under investigation.
The helicopter spotted at Kal Park is believed to be the same one.
“It seemed to fly pretty low on the lake and then landed above the walking trail down to the beach,” said Sam I’am on Facebook. “It was a group of four people (younger) and they hung out on the beach for maybe 30 minutes before taking off.”
Gottlieb thought it was strange that an aircraft landed at the park.
“I didn’t catch any faces as I was hiking and looking at the views but I do recall some people not in beach attire coming out from a swim and packing up. I only caught a glimpse of a woman.”
Leonard Van Der Merwe also saw a helicopter Saturday in Lumby.
He spotted the aircraft landing at the BC Hydro dam around 7:40 p.m.
According to Federal Aviation Administration, the 2002 Robinson Helicopter was de-registered when exported to Canada on July 6, 2023. It was previously owned by Quicksilver Air in Alaska.
The Morning Star has reached out to Transport Canada, RCMP, BC Hydro and BC Parks for more information and is awaiting responses.
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