In one afternoon, a woman lost her partner, mother, and brother

There is a particular cruelty in losing three people at once—a partner, a mother, a brother—in a single moment, on a single afternoon, in a field of corn not far from home. On Saturday, a helicopter crashed in Sainte-Brigide-d'Iberville, roughly 55 kilometers southeast of Montreal. All four people on board were killed. The pilot was identified as Suzanne Jutras, a commercial pilot known to festival-goers across the region as their "favourite pilot" . Among the passengers was Gabriel Jasmin, a radio host at Énergie Sherbrooke, and according to a social media post by his widow, the other two passengers were her relatives—her mother and her brother . Sometimes grief arrives not in stages, but all at once.

The crash occurred around 2:30 p.m. in a field near Rang des Écossais, just off Highway 10 . The helicopter was on fire when first responders arrived, and all four occupants were declared dead at the scene . Initially, the Sûreté du Québec said they believed the aircraft had experienced difficulties shortly after takeoff. In an update Sunday, however, SQ spokesperson Valérie Beauchamp said the crash happened when the aircraft was returning .

Jutras was based in Sainte-Brigide-d'Iberville and regularly offered helicopter tours. Just the previous weekend, she had flown at les Félixeries, a cultural and community festival in Saint-Félix-de-Kingsey near Drummondville. Festival organizers confirmed she was the pilot killed and paid tribute to her on social media, calling her their "favourite pilot of the past three years" and extending sympathies to her partner, family, friends, and everyone who had known her through her passion .

Gabriel Jasmin was a radio host and advertising producer at Énergie Sherbrooke. The station posted condolences to his loved ones, including his wife and daughter and his team at Bell Media . His widow wrote on social media that the other two passengers on board were her mother and her brother—meaning that in one crash, she lost her partner, her mother, and her sibling. The weight of that sentence is difficult to comprehend.

The Transportation Safety Board of Canada has deployed a team of investigators to the crash site. The SQ has concluded its investigation and the matter is now in the hands of the TSB. Federal Transport Minister Steven MacKinnon said he would appoint a minister's observer to monitor the response alongside the TSB and provide updates on the investigation . MacKinnon expressed his condolences, saying his thoughts were with everyone affected by the tragedy .

A friend of Jutras, a fellow pilot who spoke to Radio-Canada off camera, said she had plenty of experience . The helicopter was believed to be a private aircraft . The coroner's office has not yet released official confirmation of all the victims' identities.

For the community around Drummondville and Sherbrooke, the crash has left a hole that no investigation can fill. A pilot who brought joy to festival-goers, a radio voice familiar to thousands, and two family members whose names have not been publicly released—all gone in an instant on a Saturday afternoon. The TSB investigation will determine what happened. The families will spend the rest of their lives learning to live with the answer.

A helicopter crash in Sainte-Brigide-d'Iberville, Quebec, killed all four people on board Saturday. Pilot Suzanne Jutras and radio host Gabriel Jasmin were identified among the victims. Jasmin's widow says the other two passengers were her mother and brother. The TSB is investigating.

AI Image Disclaimer: Visuals in this article are produced by artificial intelligence for illustrative purposes only and do not depict actual persons or crash scenes.

Sources: CBC News, Radio-Canada, Sûreté du Québec, Transportation Safety Board of Canada