What: 2007 Robinson R44 Helicopter en route from Saint Anne des Plains, Que. to the pilot’s cottage site at Lac Simon
Where: northeast of Ottawa, in Lac Simon in western Quebec
When: 6 p.m. Wednesday
Who: Leo Blanchet, 63, and pilot Serge Louiseize, 49. Two survivors swam to shore in 1 C water. One is Mario Louis-Seize (the pilot’s brother); the other a company employee.
Why: The pilot’s brother said as his brother was trying to land, the helicopter’s rotor hit the water, bringing the aircraft to a standstill.
Witnesses saw it fall from the sky into the lake “6 p.m. Wednesday, entering the lake about 50 metres from shore, where the water was about 12 metres deep.”
Police divers, local firefighters and a Canadian Forces were searching for the missing men whose bodies were recovered Thursday Morning. The survivors are recovering from hypothermia in a Buckingham hospital.
