Forty search-and-rescue personnel and three helicopters were deployed to the prefecture of the Savoie department Tuesday evening after a chopper transporting four Service Aérien Francais employees and two first-aid workers crashed in the French Alps.
Responding authorities scanned the area for the Service Aérien Francais pilot, who ejected from the helicopter around 7:10 p.m. local time, and the other five occupants of the craft.
Rescue personnel reported dense fog as an immediate hindrance to responding helicopters' search of the crash site.
"A doctor and a rescue team arrived at the zone at [8:20 p.m. local time]. Contact was established with one of the vehicle's occupants," the prefectural government's statement read, as reported by EuroNews.
It was later confirmed that the pilot was the only passenger to survive.
"To save lives, they take all the risks. This evening in Savoie, 3 members of the French Air Rescue and 2 CRS Alpes succumbed to a helicopter crash," French President Emmanuel Macron tweeted late Tuesday night.
Pour sauver des vies, ils prennent tous les risques. Ce soir en Savoie, 3 membres du Secours aérien français et 2 CRS Alpes ont succombé à un crash d’hélicoptère. Une personne, blessée, se bat pour vivre. Soutien de la Nation aux familles, amis et collègues de ces héros français.
— Emmanuel Macron (@EmmanuelMacron) December 8, 2020
"A wounded person fights for a living. Support from the Nation to the families, friends and colleagues of these French heroes," he concluded.
