Nunavut: Within minutes after the Boeing 737-200 passenger jet slammed into a hill in Canada's remote Arctic region, military helicopters were landing at the crash site to evacuate the three survivors of the crash that killed 12 people. In an unlikely coincidence, several hundred military personnel in the region preparing for a mock airliner crash training exercise suddenly found themselves plunged into a real rescue mission.
First Air Charter flight 6560 crashed on Saturday afternoon in foggy weather as it was approaching the airport near the tiny hamlet of Resolute Bay in the Arctic territory of Nunavut. Local residents rushed to the scene in their all-terrain vehicles only to find a massive military rescue operation under way.
Officials say the rapid response may have increased the chances for the three survivors among the 15 people on board the plane which crashed in rough terrain in one of the most remote regions of Canada.
"Our thoughts and prayers remain with those affected by Saturday's tragic plane crash," said Prime Minister Stephen Harper in a statement. "Thanks to the herculean efforts of first responders, including members of the Canadian Armed Forces, lives were saved that otherwise might have been lost," Harper added.
Royal Canadian Mounted Police Constable Angelique Dignard said two of the survivors - a seven-year-old girl and a 48-year-old man - were transported to a hospital in Ottawa from a medical facility in the Nunavut territorial capital of Iqaluit. A 23-year-old woman remains in a hospital in Iqaluit.
Dignard said all three were listed in stable condition on Sunday, but she would not comment on the nature of their injuries.
National Defense spokesman Daniel Blouin said the military had been planning to stage a mock airliner crash rescue on Monday. A temporary base had been set up just outside Resolute Bay, about 1.2 miles (two kilometers) from the crash site. "That enabled the military to reach the crash site within 10 minutes of the accident," said Blouin.
He said almost 500 military personnel were already in the community to take part in the military's annual northern training exercise, Operation Nanook, which has now been suspended until at least Tuesday.
"It's not often that this level of response is here at this location," said Blouin. "The fact that we were able to get four birds in the air literally within minutes of the crash happening and use the helicopters to bring the people back to our unit medical center, to say that it helped is certainly safe to say," added Blouin.
Nunavut Premier Eva Aariak said the outcome for the survivors could have been worse if the military had not been there.
"They were just hours away from practicing what actually happened in real life," said Aariak. "It's good to hear the response team living in Resolute Bay had extra help from the military because in such remote communities it is always hard to get the level of response that is required," added Aariak.
First Air spokesman Christopher Ferris, his voice near breaking, said the cause of the accident has not been determined yet. He said all four crew members were killed. "Our thoughts and focus are with the families and friends of the passengers and crew and the community of Resolute Bay," said Ferris, who also thanked the Canadian military for their immediate response.
On its website, First Air says it serves the cargo and travel needs of Canada's Arctic region, connecting 30 remote northern communities with some of Canada's bigger cities. Police have yet to identify any of those killed in the crash. A neighbor identified one of the victims as Ches Tibbo, a carpenter from Harbour Mille, Newfoundland, who worked on projects in the Arctic region. Pam Pardy Ghent said her neighbor had survived a December 2008 plane crash on a flight from Resolute Bay that attempted to land at Cambridge Bay, and spent four hours waiting for help with temperatures dropping to -44 F (-41 C).
Ferris said the airline is co-operating with the Transportation Safety Board of Canada, whose investigators arrived at the scene shortly after Saturday's crash because they also were in the region for the military exercise. The U.S. National Transportation Safety Board has dispatched a team to assist in the investigation because a U.S.-made aircraft was involved.
The RCMP said the plane's two black flight recorder boxes had been recovered from the crash site. Forensic identification teams were working to identify the bodies and assist in the investigation.
Aziz Kheraj, the owner of the nearby South Camp Inn, said he had chartered the flight from Yellowknife in the Northwest Territories to Resolute Bay every three weeks for the past six months to bring food and passengers to his hotel.
"It's a bad time," said Kheraj. "We lost quite a few people on that plane, so it's pretty tough. We lost six staff," added Kheraj.
Kheraj told The Associated Press by telephone that his two granddaughters were on the plane, but only one of them survived -- the 7-year-old girl hospitalized at Ottawa General Hospital.
Ferris said counselors have been deployed to provide support to residents of Resolute, Yellowknife and other main stations in the airline's network.
First Air said in a news release that the plane last reported communication at 12:40 p.m. local time when it was about five miles (eight kilometers) from the Resolute Bay airstrip.
Witnesses have said there was thick fog in the area Saturday. An airport worker, who wouldn't give his name, said there was a low cloud ceiling at the time of the crash, which lifted about 10 minutes afterward. Witnesses said the wreckage was strewn across a hill near the airport runway.
Resolute Bay is a tiny community of about 250 people tucked in a shallow, gravelly bay along the northernmost leg of the Northwest Passage. Its population is mostly aboriginal natives known as Inuit people. Nunavut territory has a population of about 33,000 spread out through 25 communities.
"Individuals in each of our 25 communities are closely connected through family and friends so whenever there is a tragedy like this everyone in all of our communities feels it so much," said Aariak.
Harper was scheduled to travel to Resolute Bay on Monday on his annual trip to the Arctic, but the prime minister now plans to fly there on Tuesday to pay his respects to community leaders and first responders.
Canada's Governor General David Johnston and his wife Sharon, who are currently touring Nunavut, were in Resolute on Saturday morning for a previously planned visit. Johnston's scheduled Sunday events were cancelled. Johnston is the representative of Britain's Queen Elizabeth II as Canada's head of state.
Despite its remote location far above the treeline, Resolute is known as the nexus of the North, a frequent staging community for scientific, military and commercial expeditions. It's also the base for the Canadian Polar Continental Shelf project, a federal institution that handles logistics for Arctic researchers. Resolute is also the planned location of the army's new winter warfare school.
First Air Charter flight 6560 crashed on Saturday afternoon in foggy weather as it was approaching the airport near the tiny hamlet of Resolute Bay in the Arctic territory of Nunavut. Local residents rushed to the scene in their all-terrain vehicles only to find a massive military rescue operation under way.
Officials say the rapid response may have increased the chances for the three survivors among the 15 people on board the plane which crashed in rough terrain in one of the most remote regions of Canada.
Royal Canadian Mounted Police Constable Angelique Dignard said two of the survivors - a seven-year-old girl and a 48-year-old man - were transported to a hospital in Ottawa from a medical facility in the Nunavut territorial capital of Iqaluit. A 23-year-old woman remains in a hospital in Iqaluit.
Dignard said all three were listed in stable condition on Sunday, but she would not comment on the nature of their injuries.
National Defense spokesman Daniel Blouin said the military had been planning to stage a mock airliner crash rescue on Monday. A temporary base had been set up just outside Resolute Bay, about 1.2 miles (two kilometers) from the crash site. "That enabled the military to reach the crash site within 10 minutes of the accident," said Blouin.
He said almost 500 military personnel were already in the community to take part in the military's annual northern training exercise, Operation Nanook, which has now been suspended until at least Tuesday.
"It's not often that this level of response is here at this location," said Blouin. "The fact that we were able to get four birds in the air literally within minutes of the crash happening and use the helicopters to bring the people back to our unit medical center, to say that it helped is certainly safe to say," added Blouin.
Nunavut Premier Eva Aariak said the outcome for the survivors could have been worse if the military had not been there.
"They were just hours away from practicing what actually happened in real life," said Aariak. "It's good to hear the response team living in Resolute Bay had extra help from the military because in such remote communities it is always hard to get the level of response that is required," added Aariak.
First Air spokesman Christopher Ferris, his voice near breaking, said the cause of the accident has not been determined yet. He said all four crew members were killed. "Our thoughts and focus are with the families and friends of the passengers and crew and the community of Resolute Bay," said Ferris, who also thanked the Canadian military for their immediate response.
On its website, First Air says it serves the cargo and travel needs of Canada's Arctic region, connecting 30 remote northern communities with some of Canada's bigger cities. Police have yet to identify any of those killed in the crash. A neighbor identified one of the victims as Ches Tibbo, a carpenter from Harbour Mille, Newfoundland, who worked on projects in the Arctic region. Pam Pardy Ghent said her neighbor had survived a December 2008 plane crash on a flight from Resolute Bay that attempted to land at Cambridge Bay, and spent four hours waiting for help with temperatures dropping to -44 F (-41 C).
Ferris said the airline is co-operating with the Transportation Safety Board of Canada, whose investigators arrived at the scene shortly after Saturday's crash because they also were in the region for the military exercise. The U.S. National Transportation Safety Board has dispatched a team to assist in the investigation because a U.S.-made aircraft was involved.
The RCMP said the plane's two black flight recorder boxes had been recovered from the crash site. Forensic identification teams were working to identify the bodies and assist in the investigation.
Aziz Kheraj, the owner of the nearby South Camp Inn, said he had chartered the flight from Yellowknife in the Northwest Territories to Resolute Bay every three weeks for the past six months to bring food and passengers to his hotel.
"It's a bad time," said Kheraj. "We lost quite a few people on that plane, so it's pretty tough. We lost six staff," added Kheraj.
Kheraj told The Associated Press by telephone that his two granddaughters were on the plane, but only one of them survived -- the 7-year-old girl hospitalized at Ottawa General Hospital.
Ferris said counselors have been deployed to provide support to residents of Resolute, Yellowknife and other main stations in the airline's network.
First Air said in a news release that the plane last reported communication at 12:40 p.m. local time when it was about five miles (eight kilometers) from the Resolute Bay airstrip.
Witnesses have said there was thick fog in the area Saturday. An airport worker, who wouldn't give his name, said there was a low cloud ceiling at the time of the crash, which lifted about 10 minutes afterward. Witnesses said the wreckage was strewn across a hill near the airport runway.
Resolute Bay is a tiny community of about 250 people tucked in a shallow, gravelly bay along the northernmost leg of the Northwest Passage. Its population is mostly aboriginal natives known as Inuit people. Nunavut territory has a population of about 33,000 spread out through 25 communities.
"Individuals in each of our 25 communities are closely connected through family and friends so whenever there is a tragedy like this everyone in all of our communities feels it so much," said Aariak.
Harper was scheduled to travel to Resolute Bay on Monday on his annual trip to the Arctic, but the prime minister now plans to fly there on Tuesday to pay his respects to community leaders and first responders.
Canada's Governor General David Johnston and his wife Sharon, who are currently touring Nunavut, were in Resolute on Saturday morning for a previously planned visit. Johnston's scheduled Sunday events were cancelled. Johnston is the representative of Britain's Queen Elizabeth II as Canada's head of state.
Despite its remote location far above the treeline, Resolute is known as the nexus of the North, a frequent staging community for scientific, military and commercial expeditions. It's also the base for the Canadian Polar Continental Shelf project, a federal institution that handles logistics for Arctic researchers. Resolute is also the planned location of the army's new winter warfare school.
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