CTV News.ca Staff
Date: Saturday Aug. 20, 2011 6:27 PM ET
Twelve people are dead and three others are injured after a First Air Boeing 737 crashed near Resolute Bay, Nunavut early Saturday afternoon.
Charter Flight 6560 en route from Yellowknife to Resolute Bay crashed at about 12:50 p.m. local time, according to a statement from the airline.
The last communication from the plane was at 12:40 p.m. local time, when the aircraft was about eight kilometres from the Resolute Bay airport, the statement said.
According to the airline, 11 passengers and four crew members were on board the aircraft when it went down. The nature of the three survivors' injuries is not known.
RCMP Const. Angelique Dignard told CTV News Channel Saturday evening the survivors will be transported to hospital in Iqaluit for treatment.
Saroomie Manik, a former mayor of Resolute Bay, rushed with other local residents to the crash site to help pull survivors from the wreckage.
"You could see parts of the plane everywhere ... tail, nose everything," Manik told The Canadian Press.
According to Manik, two young granddaughters of a local inn owner were on the plane, as was the inn's cook. One of the young girls is among those who died in the crash, Manik said.
A weather report for travellers on First Air's website reported "shallow fog" with a temperature of 7 Celsius at mid-afternoon local time.
Dignard said the plane went down less than two kilometres west of the Resolute Bay airport's landing strip. In addition to the local residents, RCMP officers and military personnel also travelled to the site to search for survivors, she said. The area is accessible by ATV.
Maj. Gerald Favre, of the northern search and rescue centre at CFB Trenton, told the newswire that aircraft from the base, which are in Resolute Bay as part of the military exercise Operation Nanook, are assisting with rescue and recovery efforts.
First Air services 30 northern communities from cities such as Ottawa, Montreal, Winnipeg and Edmonton. The airline says it transports more than 225,000 passengers and 25 million kilograms of cargo every year.
The airline is entirely owned by the 9,000 Inuit of northern Quebec through Makivik Corp., which was created to invest the proceeds of the 1975 James Bay and Northern Quebec Agreement. The non-profit company purchased the airline in 1990.
According to the airline, the Boeing 737-200 is one of six types of planes in its fleet. It can carry a maximum of 99 passengers.
Investigators with the Transportation Safety Board arrived at the site soon after the plane went down. Agency investigators were already in Resolute Bay to participate in military exercises scheduled for next week.
TSB spokesperson Chris Krepski could not comment on the cause of the crash so soon after the incident.
"The first stage in an investigation is a data gathering phase," Krepski said.
"At this point it's gathering as much information as we can from the accident scene, from interviewing witnesses, speaking to air traffic control, getting weather records, maintenance records from the company, that kind of thing."
From the Globe and mail news website.
Twelve people are dead after a First Air 737 jet crashed near the hamlet of Resolute Bay in northern Nunavut, police say. Nearby military have been quick to respond to the rescue, as they were in the area preparing for exercises as part of Operation Nanook.
Witnesses said the plane crashed into a small hill near the airport runway, less than two kilometres from town. Military helicopters and local residents on all-terrain vehicles rushed to the site to see if they could help pull people from the flaming wreckage.
“You could see parts of the plane everywhere ... tail, nose everything,” said Saroomie Manik, a former mayor of the community who went to the site.
Police say the plane was a chartered flight travelling from Yellowknife to Resolute Bay. RCMP said there were 15 people on board, including four crew. Twelve died and three were injured in the crash.
Ms. Manik said there were two young girls on the plane, the grandchildren of an owner of a local inn, as well as the hotel’s cook.
One of the girls died in the crash, while the other survived and was transported to Iqaluit for treatment, Ms. Manik said.
The military were quick to respond, having already planned for Resolute to be the staging ground for a mock plane crash as part of an operational exercise, said Ron Elliott, the local MLA. Mr. Elliott said when he first heard the mayday call come over the radio, he thought there must be confusion from someone who didn't know it was just an exercise.
“We're all in shock up here,” said Mr. Elliott, who was trying to fly to Resolute Saturday afternoon but was informed all flights in and out of the hamlet are grounded. “But we're thankful the military is there to assist. With tragedies like this in a community of this size, it will ultimately have deep impact.”
Major Gerald Favre at the northern search and rescue centre at CFB Trenton said aircraft brought in for the exercise are assisting with the rescue, and the crashed plane was not part of Operation Nanook.
Chris Krepski, spokesman for the Transportation Safety Board of Canada, said investigators were on the scene soon after the crash. They were already in Resolute, scheduled to participate next week in the military exercise.
Mr. Krepski said it was too soon to say what caused the crash. “At this point it’s very early stages,” he said, adding that they were just beginning their investigation.
Just two days ago, the head of First Air, Scott Bateman, issued a press release that the airline had passed a safety audit conducted by the Flight Safety Foundation.
The weather was rainy with a low cloud ceiling, typical for the region this time of year.
Prime Minister Stephen Harper is scheduled to travel to Resolute Bay on Monday for his annual trip to the Arctic while Governor-General David Johnston, who is currently touring the Arctic, was scheduled to visit Resolute for tomorrow's annual community day.
With files from The Globe and Mail’s Patrick White and The Canadian Press
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