rhino
2008-05-15 13:53:45 UTC
This might be seen as a case of life imitating art but we had a tragedy in
British Columbia this week. A BC Hydro helicopter ran into trouble while it
was flying over the city of Cranbrook and it crashed, killing the three
aboard the helicopter and a pedestrian on the ground. The pedestrian
happened to be the sun of a cabinet minister in Kenya.
This is one article about this accident. Perhaps the one amusing element of
it is the quote which I lifted from the article for the subject line. Anyone
who watched the relevant season of ER will understand the irony. Here's a
link to the story:
http://ca.news.yahoo.com/s/capress/080515/national/helicopter_crash
Here's the story in it's entirety in case the linked article disappears, as
they so often do with Yahoo Canada:
===================================================================================
Family in Kenya planning big homecoming party when told son died in
helicopter crash
Thu May 15, 4:33 AM
By James Stevenson, The Canadian Press
CRANBROOK, B.C. - The family of a Kenyan student killed this week in a
helicopter crash in Cranbrook, B.C., were planning a big homecoming party
for him when they received news of the tragedy.
Twenty-year-old Isaiah Otieno was on his way to the post office to mail
letters to family and friends when the helicopter crash-landed on him, his
father, Kenya's Public Services Minister Dalmas Otieno told Kenya's Nation
newspaper on Thursday.
Three others were killed instantly Tuesday when the chopper faltered and
slammed into the street in a quiet Cranbrook neighbourhood. They were
identified as pilot Edward Heeb, 57, and BC Hydro employees Dirk Rozenboom,
45, and Robert Lehmann, 37.
Dalmas Otieno said he had spoken with his son by telephone just an hour
before he died.
"We are still shocked about the tragedy after receiving the bad news," the
newspaper quoted the Kenyan minister as saying. "What is disheartening is
that my son was not even travelling on that chopper, it simply crash-landed
on him."
The 6' 9" Kenyan had spent the last two years in Cranbrook, B.C., studying
at the local college. He had quickly won people over with his smile and
charm, and his many friends were devastated at the news of his death.
"I've never, ever heard of a helicopter falling out of the sky," Isaac
Hockley, a close friend said Wednesday.
Hockley had photographed the crash for the local paper without even knowing
his close friend was one of four badly charred bodies lying under the police
tarps.
Otieno's father said he learned of his son's death via e-mail, when friends
of his son used Isaiah's e-mail address and sent a message that was copied
to a brother. He said they were later formally informed by Kenya's
ambassador to Canada, Rachel Omamo.
The homecoming party planned by the family would have included a visit by
Kenyan Prime Minister Raila Odinga, said reports in that country's
newspapers.
Transportation Safety Board investigators spent the day Wednesday putting
pieces of the burnt and twisted wreckage into a truck bound for their
investigation facility in Vancouver.
Senior investigator Damien Lawson said determining a cause for the accident
will be challenging.
The aircraft was destroyed nearly beyond recognition; the model of
helicopter does not have a flight recorder; and the pilot appears to have
had no communication with the ground in the final 10 minutes before the
crash.
Many residents of the houses and apartment buildings that line the street
say the helicopter was circling low - just over the rooftops and ponderosa
pines - just minutes before it appeared to turn at a 45-degree angle and
slam into the pavement.
Several people tried in vain to help the four men, but the force of the
impact and heat of the flames were too much.
Nearby residents and police praised pilot Edward Heeb for somehow managing
to avoid hitting houses or nearby churches and school yards as his craft
came down.
Witnesses speculated that Otieno was wearing headphones at the time and
likely never heard the chopper tumbling toward him, tail-first, said his
friend, Hockley.
Otieno's life in B.C.'s rugged interior was not without its challenges,
though.
"It was pretty hard to come to a redneck town like this - it was pretty
tough for him that way," said Hockley, noting he was one of the few black
men in town.
But in his two years in Cranbrook, Otieno had amassed an impressive number
of friends.
"Every time he'd see me he'd give me a hug and a kiss on the cheek and a
high-five," said Chrystal Wentzell.
"He was the friendliest person ever - just a friendly giant."
-With files from The Associated Press
===================================================================================
--
Rhino
British Columbia this week. A BC Hydro helicopter ran into trouble while it
was flying over the city of Cranbrook and it crashed, killing the three
aboard the helicopter and a pedestrian on the ground. The pedestrian
happened to be the sun of a cabinet minister in Kenya.
This is one article about this accident. Perhaps the one amusing element of
it is the quote which I lifted from the article for the subject line. Anyone
who watched the relevant season of ER will understand the irony. Here's a
link to the story:
http://ca.news.yahoo.com/s/capress/080515/national/helicopter_crash
Here's the story in it's entirety in case the linked article disappears, as
they so often do with Yahoo Canada:
===================================================================================
Family in Kenya planning big homecoming party when told son died in
helicopter crash
Thu May 15, 4:33 AM
By James Stevenson, The Canadian Press
CRANBROOK, B.C. - The family of a Kenyan student killed this week in a
helicopter crash in Cranbrook, B.C., were planning a big homecoming party
for him when they received news of the tragedy.
Twenty-year-old Isaiah Otieno was on his way to the post office to mail
letters to family and friends when the helicopter crash-landed on him, his
father, Kenya's Public Services Minister Dalmas Otieno told Kenya's Nation
newspaper on Thursday.
Three others were killed instantly Tuesday when the chopper faltered and
slammed into the street in a quiet Cranbrook neighbourhood. They were
identified as pilot Edward Heeb, 57, and BC Hydro employees Dirk Rozenboom,
45, and Robert Lehmann, 37.
Dalmas Otieno said he had spoken with his son by telephone just an hour
before he died.
"We are still shocked about the tragedy after receiving the bad news," the
newspaper quoted the Kenyan minister as saying. "What is disheartening is
that my son was not even travelling on that chopper, it simply crash-landed
on him."
The 6' 9" Kenyan had spent the last two years in Cranbrook, B.C., studying
at the local college. He had quickly won people over with his smile and
charm, and his many friends were devastated at the news of his death.
"I've never, ever heard of a helicopter falling out of the sky," Isaac
Hockley, a close friend said Wednesday.
Hockley had photographed the crash for the local paper without even knowing
his close friend was one of four badly charred bodies lying under the police
tarps.
Otieno's father said he learned of his son's death via e-mail, when friends
of his son used Isaiah's e-mail address and sent a message that was copied
to a brother. He said they were later formally informed by Kenya's
ambassador to Canada, Rachel Omamo.
The homecoming party planned by the family would have included a visit by
Kenyan Prime Minister Raila Odinga, said reports in that country's
newspapers.
Transportation Safety Board investigators spent the day Wednesday putting
pieces of the burnt and twisted wreckage into a truck bound for their
investigation facility in Vancouver.
Senior investigator Damien Lawson said determining a cause for the accident
will be challenging.
The aircraft was destroyed nearly beyond recognition; the model of
helicopter does not have a flight recorder; and the pilot appears to have
had no communication with the ground in the final 10 minutes before the
crash.
Many residents of the houses and apartment buildings that line the street
say the helicopter was circling low - just over the rooftops and ponderosa
pines - just minutes before it appeared to turn at a 45-degree angle and
slam into the pavement.
Several people tried in vain to help the four men, but the force of the
impact and heat of the flames were too much.
Nearby residents and police praised pilot Edward Heeb for somehow managing
to avoid hitting houses or nearby churches and school yards as his craft
came down.
Witnesses speculated that Otieno was wearing headphones at the time and
likely never heard the chopper tumbling toward him, tail-first, said his
friend, Hockley.
Otieno's life in B.C.'s rugged interior was not without its challenges,
though.
"It was pretty hard to come to a redneck town like this - it was pretty
tough for him that way," said Hockley, noting he was one of the few black
men in town.
But in his two years in Cranbrook, Otieno had amassed an impressive number
of friends.
"Every time he'd see me he'd give me a hug and a kiss on the cheek and a
high-five," said Chrystal Wentzell.
"He was the friendliest person ever - just a friendly giant."
-With files from The Associated Press
===================================================================================
--
Rhino