A preliminary report by the Transportation Safety Board of Canada says a plane that crashed in the Northwest Territories this week was chartered to help with winter road construction in the area. An Air Tindi float base is shown in Yellowknife on Tuesday, Oct. 4, 2011.THE CANADIAN PRESS/James Mackenzie
YELLOWKNIFE – A preliminary report by the Transportation Safety Board of Canada says a plane that crashed in the Northwest Territories this week was chartered to help with winter road construction in the area.
The Air Tindi plane carrying 10 people crashed Wednesday near the Diavik Diamond Mine, about 300 kilometres northeast of Yellowknife, with everyone on board surviving.
The TSB report says the Twin Otter, which was fitted with skis, was travelling from Margaret Lake to Lac de Gras in the territory and crashed as it was attempting to land on the lake.
TSB spokesman Hugo Fontaine said an investigation was to begin Friday, starting with video interviews with the passengers.
He said the TSB will be present at the crash site to investigate sometime next week.
A Royal Canadian Air Force CC-130H Hercules search-and-rescue aircraft was dispatched to the site from 17 Wing Winnipeg, and dropped search-and-rescue personnel by parachute Wednesday night.
Air Force spokesman David Lavallee said the passengers, some injured, were transported to the mine before being transferred to Yellowknife.
The identities of the passengers and crew, as well as the company tasked with building the winter roads, have not been released.
Note to readers: This is a corrected story. A previous version referred to the aircraft as a float plane.
