Three British skiers survived an avalanche, and one a 30m fall down a crevasse, after their helicopter crashed and slid down the Swiss Alps, killing three people.

One of the Britons, Edward Courage, is thought to have saved the lives of young brothers Teddy and Guy Hitchens, also believed to be from Britain, by pushing them out of the stricken aircraft as it slid off the summit.

Mr Courage, based in Verbier, was among six people, including the pilot and a mountain guide that was travelling on board an Air-Glaciers B3-type helicopter. They were due to be dropped off at the top of the Petit Combin mountain near Verbier on Tuesday morning.

Conditions were described as “perfect powder”, “sunshine” and “bluebird”, with “no wind – although there may have been gusts”.

Valais canton police said: “Having reached the summit of a mountain culminating at 3,668m above sea level, for a reason that the investigation will have to determine, the aircraft slid down the northern slope.”

Photos taken after the crash show marks on the mountainside apparently where the helicopter tumbled down. Other skiers reported that the helicopter was then consumed by the avalanche. Debris remained at the scene. There were no ski tracks from the missing helicopter, which concerned other guides at the time.

The pilot, local father-of-two Jerome Lovey, died in the crash, along with young skier James Goff and their guide Adam George, originally from New Hampshire in the United States.

A skier who arrived at the summit shortly after said: “We landed after them on the south side of Le Petit Combin and saw the avalanche. It was horrific. We couldn’t make out the helicopter, it was consumed in the avalanche. We heard of the crash over the radio. We were advised to get safely off the mountain.”

Seven rescue helicopters were swiftly dispatched to search for survivors. “Two injured people were quickly treated before being airlifted to Sion Hospital, and a third person was subsequently rescued,” according to police.

Mr Courage, believed to be in his seventies and of the Courage brewery family, plunged an estimated 500m down a near vertical slope, was swept by the avalanche, and then fell 30m into a crevasse.

He and the two other Britons survived. The Hitchens brothers ended up close to each other despite falling a long way after the helicopter crash.

While emergency services swiftly recovered the brothers from under the snow, Mr Courage was stranded on a ledge in the crevasse for five hours before he was located thanks to a transceiver and winched up to safety.

Mr Courage, a figure in Verbier’s English-speaking church community, is reportedly undergoing operations, having suffered broken bones.

The brothers’ parents, Richard and Maeve, said: “Our thoughts are with the families of James, Adam and the pilot for their appalling losses.

“Ted was released from hospital today on crutches. Guy is still in hospital. No operations currently required but severely beaten up and bed-bound.”

Those who knew him said Mr George was a highly experienced and trusted guide who has scaled El Capitan many times, along with other difficult climbs such as the North face of the Eiger.

A donations group has been set up for Adam’s wife Caroline George-Ware and daughter Olivia. Adam’s funeral will be held next week.

Mrs George-Ware, co-founder of their guiding company Into the Mountains, said: “We had our first date on a climb and got engaged on a summit.”

The pilot, Mr Lovey, was also an instructor and had been working full-time for Air-Glaciers since September 2022.

This is the third helicopter accident in the space of a few weeks in the canton. In February a helicopter crashed in the Val d’Anniviers. Last month another crashed in a meadow in Vétroz. Only two people were injured in these incidents.

However, this is thought to be the first commercial tragedy in the region.

Three people were killed on Monday by an avalanche at the luxury Swiss ski resort of Zermatt.

Police on Wednesday said that one of the dead was a young Canadian woman. The avalanche also claimed the lives of a 15-year-old teenager and a 58-year-old Swiss man.

Valais canton police added there may be another skier under the snow after the disappearance of a 30-year-old man was reported on Tuesday.

Around 17 people have lost their lives in avalanches in Switzerland since Oct 1 last year.

An investigation has been opened by the Swiss Federal Prosecutor’s Office (MPC), which is responsible for aviation accidents. A safety investigation has also been launched by the SESE (Swiss Safety Investigation Service).