A search and rescue technician who parachuted down to reach the victims of a plane crash that left one dead says the survivors did a lot to prepare for a possible emergency.

Master Cpl. Cam Hillier, from the 442 Rescue Squadron, said four people who survived a crash in B.C.'s Interior on Monday morning had proper gear and clothing, and knew the dangers before leaving that day.

"They took care of themselves. They took care of each other. They had sleeping bags out," Hillier recalled the next day.

"They were ready for anything."

Hillier was one of several people sent to the scene of the crash when the plane went down shortly before 9:30 a.m.

Five people were on board a de Havilland DHC-2 Beaver aircraft when it crashed north of Anahim Lake, a remote community located about 320 kilometres west of Williams Lake.

The pilot died at the scene, but one of the crash's survivors was able to call 911 to report the incident, something rescuers say is extremely rare.

Search and rescue volunteers, B.C. Ambulance Service paramedics and members of the 442 Rescue Squadron (Canadian Armed Forces) were all dispatched to the scene. Some members of the search and rescue team, including Hillier, parachuted down to help with the extraction.

Because of the cloud cover, Hillier and two other search and rescue techs were forced to jump from a height of about 1,500 feet, the lowest limit of what is deemed safe.

"It was a really quick jump -- we had a lot of gear on, that high altitude – you come in pretty fast. It was a memorable, memorable jump," he said.

As Hillier approached the area surrounded by the snow-covered trees, he saw that the aircraft was completely nose-down, and its wings were gone.

"It got pretty beat up in the crash," he said. "Almost flipped right over."

On arrival, he and the other SAR techs found that one of the plane's occupants had died. Three more were on the ground, and one was able to walk around and talk, although that person was also injured.

They started to perform emergency medical care on the survivors, who were taken to hospital when BC Ambulance Service paramedics arrived.

Because of the remote location of the crash site, the survivors had to be carried 300 metres to an area where they could be hoisted up to the air ambulance.

"We had everybody from the pilots to every paramedic there helping haul patients through the woods and it wasn’t an easy haul," Hillier said.

One of the survivors was airlifted to a hospital in Vancouver in critical condition, while the other three were taken to Kamloops where one is in serious condition. The other two have minor injuries and are stable.

The survivors of the crash have not been publicly identified, but the pilot of the plane who died at the scene was Leonard Banga, the founder and owner of Xtreme Mining and Demolition in Saskatoon. Banga had recently obtained his pilot's licence, according to the Mitchinson Flight Centre's Facebook page. It appeared that Banga took his first solo flight in July 2015.

Banga's friend Ron Olson said the pilot had purchased an air park and had plans to expand it. He was well-known in the Saskatchewan mining industry, and "in-demand" in the province for his expertise.

Olson said Banga had been flying for three or four years, and had a "tremendous interest in aviation. He loved flying."

He took flying very seriously, and Olson believes he was well-trained.

Banga's friend said he was on a moose hunting trip with some of his employees, and was only about 16 kilometres from his airstrip when the plane crashed.

"He flew out to his lodge many times. He flies float planes as well as wheeled aircraft. He was a confident pilot, he's flown there a lot of times," Olson said.

Olson described the death as a "great shock," saying he'd just spoken with Banga on Friday.

"He was young. He was a dynamic individual – one of those guys who's larger than life," Olson said.

"You think he's going to be there all the time, so it's a shock."

Few details about the crash have been confirmed, but officials from the Transportation Safety Board are on scene investigating its cause.

The TSB's Bill Yearwood said the plane had taken off from Vanderhoof at 9 a.m., and crashed about 25 minutes later.

The plane was badly damaged and lost its float pontoons on the way down, Yearwood told CTV News, adding that the plane did not catch fire when it crash-landed in the treed area.

An official with Nechako Search and Rescue said Banga and his passengers were on a hunting trip to Laidman Lake Lodge.

They were lucky to have crashed in an area where there was cellphone service, Nechako SAR president Chris Mushmanski said.

The mountainous area is surrounded by mining roads, and there were four inches of snow on the ground when the plane went down. It was a clear morning in the area, with temperatures just below freezing.