A pilot has died and one person had to be airlifted to hospital in Vancouver after a helicopter with three people aboard crashed Tuesday afternoon on the north side of Nares Lake near Carcross.

The helicopter was carrying a staff member and a contractor working for Environment Yukon on a study of Southern Lakes grizzly bears, department spokesperson Nancy Campbell confirmed this morning.

Carcross RCMP received a call from one of the occupants at around 3:50 p.m. telling them the helicopter had crashed on the north side of Nares Lake near Nares Mountain.

The helicopter had been chartered from Whitehorse's Horizon Helicopters, Campbell said.

"We're devastated; the whole company is devastated,” president Cole Hodinski said this morning.

In a later statement early this afternoon, Hodinski said his company "is now focusing all of its attention on doing everything it can to support the families and loved ones of those involved in this accident.”

The pilot's name and age have not yet been released.

The names of the two passengers in the helicopter are also not being released.

Whitehorse General Hospital spokesperson Val Pike said a 36-year-old man was admitted to the hospital and later medevaced to Vancouver with a serious spinal injury.

He is in serious but stable condition, she said.

A second man rescued from the crash was admitted to the hospital with bruising on his chest.

The 24-year-old was kept overnight for observation and released this morning, Pike said.

Though Environment Canada does not have a measuring station directly in Carcross, meteorologist Doug Lundquist estimates Tuesday's high winds in southern Yukon could have reached 75 or 80 km/h.

The cause of the crash is still being investigated, police say.

The RCMP are currently securing the crash site and waiting for representatives from the federal Transportation Safety Board (TSB) to arrive.

TSB spokesperson John Cottreau said this morning two investigators are on their way from Edmonton.

They are expected to arrive in Whitehorse this afternoon and Carcross a few hours later.

The investigators have been deployed to assess the scene, interview witnesses and decide whether a full investigation is warranted, Cottreau said.

It usually takes between 48 and 72 hours to make that decision.

The TSB says the trio were flying in a Robinson R44 helicopter also known as a Raven II.

The Horizon Helicopters website, which displays photos of its fleet, calls the R44 the best-selling helicopter in the world for seven years running.

"Its low fuel burn and operating cost makes this helicopter a great option for light utility work or tourism,” the website says.

"It is a four-seat helicopter, with a phenomenal view from all seats, and a noise signature of just 68 decibels (less than large trucks) so it won't scare the wildlife.”

The helicopter has a cruise speed of 120 m.p.h. and a 700-lb. payload, according to the site.

Environment Yukon has cancelled all its remote field travel for the week.

"A number of our staff are pretty shaken up,” Campbell said.

The department will also be reviewing its safety procedures.

The helicopter was in the area gathering grizzly bear DNA to be studied.

About 170 stations are set up around the Southern Lakes area with lures next to small amounts of barbed wire, Campbell explained.

When a bear brushes up against the wire, it leaves behind hair to be studied.

It is the job of teams in helicopters to touch down at the sites, collect any hair left behind on the barbed wire and take off again.

The program is about three years old. This year's work has been going on for the last couple of months, Campbell said.