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Canada: A source said that Six people killed after a small commuter plane carrying workers to remote mine crashed near Fort Smith in Canada’s on Tuesday shortly after taking off.
The plane was on its way to the Diavik diamond mine belonging to a mining firm, Rio Tinto. One person survived, according to this aviation source with knowledge of the crash probe, who asked not to be named as they were not authorized to speak to the media.
The survivor’s condition was not released. According to the report, The plane was found near the Slave River when it lost contact with air traffic control after taking off near Fort Smith around 8:50 am (local time).
In a statement, Rio Tinto Chief Executive Jakob Stausholm said the company was devastated by the crash. The military and federal police responded to the crash in the Northwest Territories. Canadian Rangers on snowmobiles located the wreckage while search and rescue technicians parachuted down from a Hercules aircraft.
Rio Tinto Chief Executive Jakob Stausholm said,“We are working closely with the authorities and will help in any way we can with their efforts to find out exactly what has happened.” The Joint Rescue Coordination Centre in Trenton, Ontario said contact with the plane was lost shortly after it took off at about 8:50 am local time from Fort Smith, which is 320 kilometers (200 miles) southwest of the regional capital Yellowknife.
The town’s hospital said it activated its mass casualty protocol while the Arctic territory’s chief coroner Garth Eggerberger said “There are fatalities,” without providing more details. Northwest Territories Premier RJ Simpson extended his condolences to the families of those who died in the crash.
Chief coroner of Northwest Territories Garth Eggenberger confirmed the deaths but said that officials would not give further information until the family members were informed, according to reports. Northwestern Air, which operated the Jetstream twin turboprop airliner, said this was a charter flight carrying workers to a mine. It crashed 1.1 kilometers (0.7 miles) from the end of the runway.
All flights from Fort Smith have been grounded until Wednesday. Canada’s Transportation Safety Board deployed a team to investigate the accident. Canada’s Transportation Safety Board said a team of investigators was sent to the site to probe into the crash. The incident happened a day after three people died and four others were injured when their helicopter crashed in neighbouring British Columbia.
