Friends and colleagues are remembering helicopter pilot Brent Fedirchuk as a safe pilot and a great friend. Fedirchuk, from Port Alberni, died April 6 in a helicopter crash north of Sayward while working a logging site for Kestrel Helicopters.
B次元官网网址淚tB次元官网网址檚 been hard,B次元官网网址� said Randy Haberland, who once worked with Fedirchuk flying commercial helicopters.
B次元官网网址淲hen you go to work you never expect a call like thatB次元官网网址rom a guy doing this for 25 years.B次元官网网址�
Fedirchuk had left Kestrel HelicoptersB次元官网网址� base in Parksville the same morning and hadnB次元官网网址檛 been working very long at the site when the crash happened, according to reports.
The Joint Rescue Command Centre in Victoria received a mayday call at approximately 9 a.m. on April 6. The Transportation Safety Board, which investigates air, marine, pipeline and rail incidents, sent two investigators to the scene of the crash near Sayward.
Fedirchuk was working with Kestrel Helicopters in the Naka Creek area north of Sayward when the incident occurred.
Fedirchuk was a safe pilot, said former colleague Haberland. B次元官网网址淚 knew him for 22 years that I flew with him. He was the best guy I ever worked with from the air to the ground.B次元官网网址�
Haberland was supposed to be block logging in the same place as Fedirchuk but truck trouble prevented him from working that morning.
The news hit hard for Paul Robertson, who has known Fedirchuk for decades. The pair worked together in the logging industry and also volunteered with Funtastic AlberniB次元官网网址檚 annual slo-pitch tournament. B次元官网网址滺e was my best buddy,B次元官网网址� Robertson said.
The pair met in 1992 when RobertsonB次元官网网址檚 company hired Kestrel to fly their shape box. B次元官网网址淗e was such a professional at his job: safe, always on on time. There was no better pilot. HeB次元官网网址檚 going to be missed by a lot of people he worked for.B次元官网网址�
Fedirchuk began volunteering with Funtastic Alberni in 2016 and threw himself into the task. He earned Volunteer of the Year that year, and later joined the board.
Fedirchuk had turned 50 during a family trip to Mexico a few days before the accident.
B次元官网网址淎lways upbeat, happy,B次元官网网址� said Robertson. B次元官网网址淭hat was Brent.B次元官网网址�
B次元官网网址�With a file from Marc Kitteringham, Campbell River Mirror
