Authorities in the Bahamas removed a helicopter and the seven Americans on board from the Atlantic Ocean on Friday after it crashed during a flight from Grand Cay Island to Fort Lauderdale. Among the victims, 22-year-old Kameron Cline and her father, Chris Cline, a well-known philanthropist and self-made billionaire.

Chris Cline joined his family's coal business and began working in underground mines when he was just 15 in West Virginia.

"He's most comfortable around people that he grew up with, people around the coal mines and in the operations, and he loves to have simple fun," said Bartow Jones, a family friend. "He gave back and he always knew where he came from. So when he gave back, he gave back to things that were focused on West Virginia."

CBS News also spoke to West Virginia Gov. Jim Justice, who said he had known Cline for 40 years.

"He had many thousands that depended on him in every way. What a great guy that never forgot his roots and gave back so much. West Virginia will miss him in a gigantic way, I can tell you that," Justice said.

The pilot, David Jude, and two of Kameron Cline's Louisiana State University sorority sisters also died.



According the Bahamas police, the chopper took off at 2 a.m., but was not reported missing until 12 hours later and there was no distress call. The aircraft was found submerged in 16 feet of water off Grand Cay. Aviation officials are investigating what caused the chopper to go down.

In a statement, the Cline family told CBS News, Chris was "a testament that our hopes and dreams are achievable when we believe and commit ourselves to action." And "Kameron was a bright light to all who knew her." Friday would have been Chris Cline's 61st birthday.

Officials in the Bahamas said they are looking into weather conditions, flight time and whether or not the helicopter was cleared to fly in the middle off the night.