A 64-year-old Sarnia man has been identified as the pilot killed in a helicopter crash in Ashland County, Wisconsin.
The Ashland County Sheriff's Office said the Enbridge Energy helicopter, which was travelling west from the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, was reported overdue on Monday. The aircraft was last seen over the Birch Hill area of the Bad River Tribal Reservation early in the afternoon, but it never made it to Duluth International Airport where it was scheduled to make a brief stop, or to Madison, which was its planned destination where it was due to arrive at around 5:45 p.m.
Emergency crews including the United States Coast Guard searched the throughout the evening and into Tuesday morning. The crash site was located at around 1:37 a.m. from the air in a remote portion of the Bad River Tribal Reservation.
Police and fire crews responded and found the site at around 6 a.m., where they discovered the body of 64-year-old Dean M. Bass of Sarnia. He is believed to have been the only occupant of the crashed helicopter.
The recovery efforts are ongoing and no further information regarding the cause of the crash has been released.
