Journalist Réjean Léveillé and pilot Antoine Leger were in stable condition at the Montreal General Hospital Wednesday night.
Their TVA news helicopter crashed early Wednesday morning just off the Bonaventure autoroute.
Jean-Marc Troquet, head of emergency services at the Montreal General Hospital called the accident "extremely major".
He praised the pilot for his heroic efforts in landing the plane and his extraordinary flying.
"The pilot has to be congratulated for acting the way he did " he said "We can only imagine what might have happened had he come down in the middle of traffic or into a building."
He went on to say they were expecting the injuries to be much worse.
“The two of them were very lucky in their misfortune, and we’re happy with that.”
Pilot Antoine Léger was able to get out of the downed helicopter on his own before being taken to the Montreal General for treatment. Doctors say he has a broken back. They expect to operate on him by the end of the week.
TVA journalist Réjean Léveillé wasn't so lucky. Emergency workers had to work for more than an hour to pry him out of the wreckage. Léveillé's legs were crushed underneath the debris.
Doctors say he suffered multiple fractures in his legs. It was originally feared that he had suffered fractures in his pelvis bone as well.
In an interview with TVA this afternoon, Léveillé had nothing but praise and admiration for his colleague, calling the pilot a hero who kept a cool head and managed to get the helicopter down as safely as was humanly possible.
Over at the TVA network a shockwave rippled through the newsroom as news of the accident spread Wednesday morning.
TVA's vice-president Serge Fortin called it a miracle the two made it out alive.
This is the second news helicopter crash this year.
Last August CTV cameraman Hugh Haugland and his pilot Roger Belanger were killed when their helicopter crashed near Mont Laurier.
TVA says they won't be rushing to buy another helicopter as news organizations begin to rethink the idea of using them to cover the news.
For more information on the crash please read my previous article: http://www.examiner.com/examiner/x-29858-Montreal-Headlines-Examiner~y2009m12d16-News-helicopter-crashed-in-downtown-Montreal
Comments