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Edmonton Sun:-
Twenty-year-old Darcy Moses was taking his second trip up in a helicopter - helping in the forest fire effort - when the chopper crashed, killing him.
"He loved flying. He'd fly over and see our house and tell us how small we looked and how cool it was," his mom Margaret Fawcett, 42, said through tears yesterday.
"I was so proud of him."
Moses was one of four people on a Precision Helicopters chopper that had been hired by the province to do "initial attack" on forest fires, said Alberta Sustainable Resource Development spokesman Dave Ealey.
"They were checking on lightning strikes from a storm front that had passed through the area," he said.
Lightning strikes can result in the first stages of forest fires called "smokes" and quickly grow into huge infernos.
The Bell 206 Jet Ranger chopper went down moments after takeoff Monday evening, crashing about 100 metres from the takeoff site of the Nose Mountain Tower, southwest of Grande Prairie.
The other three occupants of the helicopter, including the pilot, survived the crash.
Two of the survivors were treated and released from the QE II Hospital in Grande Prairie, while the third remained in hospital in stable condition yesterday.
RCMP arrived at Fawcett's Sturgeon Lake First Nations home Monday night with the grim news.
"They said there was an accident and as soon as they said 'helicopter,' I knew it was Darcy," said Fawcett, her voice breaking.
Moses, the second-oldest of eight children and the father of a 15-month-old boy, always put family first, said his mom.
"No matter how much money he had, he'd try to give me most of it. I'd say, 'No, Darcy, think of yourself.' And he'd say, 'No, mom, give me $10 or $20 and I'll be fine.' He'd help out in every way he could."
Transportation Safety Board spokesman Jon Lee said two TSB investigators were on their way to the crash scene to start their probe.
"One of the issues we'll be looking at is survivability, because we have some people with minor injuries but we also have a fatality," said Lee.
"For us that is not unusual but it's something to look at."
Wayne Fawcett, Moses's stepfather, said the whole family is dealing with shock and disbelief over the tragedy.