A New Zealand man is among the four people injured after a serious ski-helicopter accident in Canada this week.
Three others, two who have been named as Italian tourists, were killed when the helicopter crashed into the top of a mountain near the city of Terrace on Monday afternoon.
The New Zealander remains in a critical condition in a hospital in Vancouver, where several of his family members arrived on Thursday to be with him.
He is one of four survivors of the crash. One other was critically injured while two sustained serious injuries.
The helicopter was a Koala Agusta A119 carrying skiers near Terrace. It was one of three helicopters carrying the group on a back country ski trip, when it went down at about 4:15pm.
Northern Escape Heli Skiing president John Forrest said one of the passengers was able to use an onboard radio after the accident to call for help.
"It is impossible to put into words the profound grief that we feel and the sorrow that our guests and our staff share right now," Forrest said at a press conference.
Police say the other helicopters lost contact with the aircraft before they spotted the crash site.
The two other helicopters then transported the four survivors from the crash site to paramedics who rushed them to hospital, 50km away.
It remains unclear why the helicopter went down and a number of agencies are investigating the cause of the crash.
