First Air passenger plane crashes in northern Canada, killing 12

[News_Editor]

First Air passenger plane crashes in northern Canada, killing 12

2011-08-21 11:08:47 GMT+7 (ICT)

RESOLUTE, CANADA (BNO NEWS) -- A dozen people were killed on early Saturday afternoon when a First Air passenger plane crashed in northern Canada, officials said. Three people survived the accident.

The accident happened at around 12.50 p.m. local time when First Air Flight 6560, a Boeing 737-200, crashed about five miles (8 kilometers) east of Resolute Bay, a small Inuit hamlet on Cornwallis Island in Nunavut. It happened just a short distance from the hamlet's airport.

The airline said the chartered plane's last communication was received at 12.40 p.m. local time, ten minutes before the deadly crash. "Eleven passengers and four crew were on board the aircraft," First Air said in a statement. "Twelve fatalities have been reported and three survivors have been treated at the medical center."

Constable Angelique Dignard of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) said the three survivors, one of them a child, were transported to Qikiqtani General Hospital in Iqaluit for treatment. "One of the adult casualties is in critical condition," she said.

Dignard said the RCMP sent two forensic identification teams to Resolute Bay to assist with the investigation. One team of four identification officers will identify those killed while the other team of two forensic identification officers will be assisting in the investigation.

"These officers are all experienced," Dignard said, adding that some of the officers have previously dealt with the crash of Swissair Flight 111 in Nova Scotia in 1998 and the tsunami disaster in Asia in 2004.

Dignard described the crash site as 'widespread' but said the plane's two black boxes have been recovered at the site. "They are being kept secure along with the scene," she said. The plane was coming from Yellowknife and was due to land at Resolute Airport at the time of the accident.

It was not immediately known what caused the accident. "We're on the accident scene, we're gathering info on data from weather, from air traffic control communications and radar, from the company like pilot training records and aircraft maintenance records and that kind of thing," said Chris Krepski, a spokesman for the Transportation Safety Board of Canada (TSB). "It's all standard procedure."

While it was not immediately known whether weather played a role in the accident, Environment Canada said it was cloudy near Resolute Airport on Saturday afternoon with winds of around 13 kilometers (8 miles) per hour and light showers.

"The Transportation Safety Board has deployed investigators and they are on the scene right now, beginning to gather data for the investigation," Krepski said. Both Boeing and the U.S. National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) will also join the investigation.

"The Boeing Company wishes to offer its deepest sympathies to the families and friends of those lost today in the First Air 737-200 accident in Resolute, Canada, as well as wishes for the recovery of those injured," Boeing said in a statement.

Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper, who had already planned to visit the region next week, said he was 'deeply saddened' by the news. "Our thoughts and prayers are with the families and friends of those passengers who lost their lives in this tragedy. We also wish a speedy recovery to those who were injured," Harper said.

David Johnston, the Governor General of Canada, also said he and his wife are saddened by the 'catastrophe'. "Our thoughts and prayers go out to all those affected by this tragic event," he said.

Last month, five people were killed when a single-engine Havilland Canada DHC-2 Beaver aircraft crashed about 60 kilometers (37.2 miles) north of the community of Southend, located in the northeastern part of Canada's Saskatchewan Province.

In September 1998, all 229 people on board Swissair Flight 111 were killed when the McDonnell Douglas MD-11 plane crashed into the Atlantic Ocean near St. Margarets Bay in Nova Scotia. But Canada's deadliest aviation disaster happened in December 1985 when Arrow Air Flight 1285 crashed in the town of Gander in Newfoundland and Labrador, killing all 256 people on board.

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