A HEROIC Brit has saved two brothers from a 1,640ft helicopter crash in the Alps by pushing them out the doomed wreck before jumping himself.
Edward Courage, the heir to Courage Brewery, miraculously kept the pair alive after a horror avalanche “consumed” the aircraft and left three others dead.
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Courage, in his seventies, was able to stay calm as the Air-Glaciers B3-type helicopter plummeted down the mountain after it slid off a steep cliff on the edge of Petit Combin.
The avalanche battered much of the Alps causing chaos across the popular ski region.
Courage is believed to have saved brothers Teddy and Guy Hitchens before the helicopter crash landed.
Guy ended up “severely beaten up and bed-bound” with Teddy leaving hospital on crutches.
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Courage is undergoing surgery after he broke several bones upon landing, The Telegraph reports.
Pilot Jerome Lovey, fellow skier James Goff and guide Adam George died in the disaster.
Locals described the weather conditions at the time of the crash as ideal leaving investigators puzzled as to how it started its fatal descent off the cliff edge.
It was horrific. We couldn’t make out the helicopter, it was consumed in the avalanche.
Skier
But eyewitnesses described the helicopter getting swept up in a volatile avalanche when it started to free fall down the mountain.
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Valais regional police force released a statement saying: “Having reached the summit of a mountain culminating at 3,668 metres above sea level, for a reason that the investigation will have to determine, the aircraft slid down the northern slope.”
The group had exciting plans to go heli-skiing off the mountain.
Heli-skiing is typically done off-trail and sees advanced level ski-goers expertly navigate downhill after being dropped off at a chosen peak by a helicopter.
Courage spends much of his time in the Swiss Alpine village of Verbier, famous for its slopes, and is widely known in the area.
Richard and Maeve Hitchen gave a statement to the local paper saying: “Ted was released from hospital today on crutches.
“Guy is still in hospital. No operations currently required but severely beaten up and bed-bound.”
THE HORRIFIC CRASH
Despite the three men surviving the terrifying ordeal, the rest of the crew on board the flight tragically died.
Adam George, 45, was an experienced ski guide from New Hampshire, US.
He has climbed mountains for years and even scaled some of the toughest cliff faces such as El Capitan and the north face of the Eiger.
He left behind his wife Caroline George-Ware and their daughter Olivia.
We are deeply shocked by this event. Our thoughts are with the families and relatives of the victims
Air Glaciers
James Goff was the youngest of all the men involved and was set to ski down the slopes alongside the Hitchens brothers and Courage.
Pilot Jerome Lovey also lost his life when the avalanche “consumed” the helicopter.
The Hitchens’ parents said: “Our thoughts are with the families of James, Adam and the pilot for their appalling losses.”
As helicopter owner Air Glaciers told local media: “We are deeply shocked by this event.
“Our thoughts are with the families and relatives of the victims.”
A skier who turned up at the top of mountain shortly after the crash reportedly said: “We landed after them on the south side of Le Petit Combin and saw the avalanche. It was horrific.
“We couldn’t make out the helicopter, it was consumed in the avalanche.
“We heard of the crash over the radio. We were advised to get safely off the mountain.”
Seven helicopters were involved in the rescue operation.
An investigation has been opened by the Swiss Federal Prosecutor’s Office as well as the Swiss Safety Investigation Service.
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The Swiss weather service recorded moderate winds earlier in the morning averaging speeds of 15mph.
It comes just hours chilling footage of a monstrous avalanche sweeping down a Swiss mountain – killing three – was released.
Terrifying moment deadly avalanche sweeps down Swiss mountain
By JULIANA CRUZ LIMA
THIS is the terrifying moment a monstrous avalanche swept down a Swiss mountain killing a US teen and two adults at a top Alpine ski resort.
Chilling footage shows the deadly wave of ice and snow cascading down from the peaks of the Riffelberg in Switzerland, as horrified skiers watch on from afar.
The rumbling avalanche by the Swiss Alpine ski resort of Zermatt on Easter Monday saw three people killed and another injured, police said.
It took place at about 2pm in an off-piste area of the Riffelberg, reportedly above the resort and below the famous Matterhorn.
“It looked to me as if there were several people on the slope at the time of the avalanche,” a horrified witness told local outlet Blick.
It is understood that a 15-year-old from the United States is among those dead, The Guardian reports.
A man and a woman were also killed, but police have not yet identified them.
Cops gave no further details but said they had no information on the woman’s identity.
A fourth person was found injured and taken to a local hospital following a frantic search for survivors involving four helicopters.
Two of the victims reportedly had an avalanche search device with them, according to Blick.
A spokesperson for police in the southern canton of Valais said it was unclear whether more people could still be missing, with police saying in a brief statement that search operations had been halted for Monday.
Access to the area, which had a lot of snow, was difficult, Valais police said.
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Source: Sun
