The NWT Coroner Service has confirmed that the sole occupant of the Fort Good Hope helicopter crash has died.
After the confirmation, their remains were recovered and have been sent to Edmonton for an autopsy. The pilot has been identified as Tom Frith, who was originally from Austrailia, and had worked with Great Slave Helicopters since 2018.
The pilot’s family has been informed by the RCMP, and the NWT Coroner Service has expressed their condolences to the pilot’s family, as well as everyone in the community of Fort Good Hope who has been affected by the incident.
Mike Westwick, the Wildfire Information Officer with the GNWT, issued a statement on the NWT Fire Facebook page.
“The ripples of these events spread far and wide in the firefighting community in the NWT, Canada and beyond, given the close and interwoven personal connections formed over many years. Our priority above all else is our team’s wellness. Counselling is available to members of our wildfire management team to help them process this incident.
“We have also ensured that any staff or contractors, regardless of which worksite they were at across the NWT, who needed time off from work were given that opportunity. We will continue to support the contractor and investigators in their work to understand exactly what happened.”
