A plane en route to Nunavut from Winnipeg has crashed with nine people aboard, killing a six-month-old child, RCMP say.
Perimeter Aviation charter flight 671 was carrying seven passengers — including the infant — a pilot, and a co-pilot when it aborted a landing and crashed as it approached Sanikiluaq at approximatley 6:13 p.m. ET. RCMP said in a news release the plane was a Fairchild Metro 3/23 twin-engine turbo prop that crashed close to the end of the runway, south of the airport.
Sanikiluaq is an Inuit community of 850 residents and the southernmost community in the territory, situated on the Belcher Islands in southeastern Hudson Bay, only about 150 kilometres from Quebec.
The RCMP and the Chief Coroner of Nunavut are attending the crash site.
Airline president Mark Wehrle said Nunavut authorities had told him one person died, and a number of others aboard were injured. All the injuries are non-life threatening, CBC's Neville Crabbe reported from the territory.
The co-pilot was flown to Winnipeg for treatment, while the captain was being treated at the scene.
Wehrle said the flight was chartered for Keewatin Air, which schedules three trips a week between Winnipeg and Sanikiluaq.
He said Keewatin usually flies people from the small community in and out of Winnipeg for medical treatment.
Wehrle said six staff from Perimeter and Keewatin were heading to the community.
"We're arranging to go up and meet with the community and all the people involved and work with the authorities to determine the cause and go from there."
The Transportation Safety Board was to determine Sunday when it would send investigators to the crash site.
According to its website, Perimeter Aviation is a Manitoba company with scheduled flights, a flight training school, and charter and contract flying with destinations through North America. It operates more than 30 aircraft.
With files from The Canadian Press
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