Rescue efforts are underway after a small aircraft crashed on Wednesday leaving 10 people stranded with injuries near a diamond mine about 300 kilometres northeast of Yellowknife. An Air Tindi float base is shown in Yellowknife on Tuesday, Oct. 4, 2011. THE CANADIAN PRESS/James Mackenzie
YELLOWKNIFE – Rescue efforts continued Thursday after a small plane crash left 10 people, some with injuries, stranded overnight in a remote area of the Northwest Territories.
Air Tindi president Chris Reynolds said the plane, which was on a private charter, went down just before it was set to land Wednesday afternoon.
“It appears to have had an accident right beside its intended destination, which was a frozen lake,” Reynolds said in an interview.
“The aircraft was supposed to be landing there and we got a message on our satellite tracking that there was an emergency that the pilots would have activated.”
Reynolds said it was cold and windy in the area, about 300 kilometres northeast of Yellowknife, which hampered an immediate rescue of the two pilots and eight passengers.
A Royal Canadian Air Force CC-130H Hercules search-and-rescue aircraft was dispatched to the site from 17 Wing Winnipeg and arrived Wednesday night.
David Lavellee, spokesman for 1 Canadian Air Division and Canadian NORAD Region Headquarters, said three search-and-rescue technicians parachuted to the scene with supplies and equipment.
“Royal Canadian Air Force SAR Technicians are highly trained first response and survival experts, and they were able to assess the ten people on the ground, provide initial medical care, and build shelter to await extraction,” he said in an email.
Six people had minor injures, while two had moderate to serious injuries but were showing signs of improvement.
The Joint Rescue Coordination Centre Trenton said it was working with Air Tindi on an extraction plan that included preparing helicopters with medical teams to travel to the site Thursday morning.
Reynolds said it’s believed the three helicopters landed and were in the process of transporting people to Yellowknife.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Dec. 28, 2023.
