Investigators from the Transportation Safety Board of Canada are spreading out in northwest Alberta following the death of a pilot in a helicopter crash while battling a wildfire.

A 41-year-old man from Whitecourt, Alta, sustained fatal injuries in the incident, according to the Royal Canadian Mounted Police report on Thursday.

The communications office of the Transportation Safety Board of Canada stated, "An investigation team is on its way to the scene of the crash near Heg Lake, southeast of the town of Manning in the Peace River region."

Transportation Safety Board spokesperson Chris Krebski said, "The pilot was the only person on board the Bell 205A when it crashed into swampy terrain on Wednesday."

Krebski noted, "The first signal from the helicopter's emergency locator transmitter was received at 6:15 PM from the crash site, approximately 43 nautical miles east-northeast of Peace River."

Krebski confirmed, "Investigators are expected to arrive at the scene later on Thursday, and they will attempt to determine the cause of the helicopter's collision with the terrain, indicating that it struck the ground during firefighting operations, which occurred during some stages of the bucket operations."

He added, "I don't know what the stage of the operation was at the time of the collision, whether it was during pickup or during drop, this is what we are trying to typically figure out."

The helicopters involved in the bucket operations use a specialized bucket suspended on a cable to deliver water to the fire, as the crash site is not accessible by land.

Corporal Troy Savinkov stated, "The Royal Canadian Mounted Police were transported to the scene by helicopter."

He added, "The officers arrived around 8 PM, about an hour after the first police call, and the police reached the area where crews were performing CPR on the sole helicopter passenger."

Savinkov said, "I believe other forest workers are the ones who found him with the helicopter, then they landed and attempted to provide first aid; the pilot was taken to Peace River Airport where he was pronounced dead."

Officials from the Alberta Wildfire Agency did not respond to requests for comment.