737 down in Northern Canada.

[touch-n-go]

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/ottawa/story/2011/08/20/north-air-crash.html


Plane crash near Resolute Bay kills 12

Military helicopters, medical personnel at crash site

CBC News

Posted: Aug 20, 2011 3:18 PM ET

Last Updated: Aug 20, 2011 5:09 PM ET

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IN DEPTH: Canada's military in the North
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​

A 737 passenger jet crashed Saturday near Resolute Bay, Nunavut, in Canada's High Arctic, killing 12 people and injuring three others on board.
Nunavut RCMP said First Air charter flight 6560 was travelling from Yellowknife to Resolute Bay with 15 people on board, including four crew members, the CBC's Patricia Bell reported from Iqaluit.
The RCMP said in a release it "was made aware of the possibility of some survivors." A flight list was not immediately available.

First Air provides scheduled passenger and cargo service between 25 northern communities with connections to Edmonton, Winnipeg, Montreal and Ottawa. CBC​

The Joint Rescue Co-ordination Centre in CFB Trenton said helicopters and medical personnel are now at the site.
Bell said some people in Resolute Bay saw the crash, not far from the runway of the airport that serves the hamlet of about 200 residents.
"People in the community are understandably quite upset," Bell said.
Hundreds of military personnel are currently in the area for the massive military excerise Operation Nanook. But the co-ordination centre says that the incident was not a part of a simulation planned for the operation.
The plane had been scheduled to continue on to Grise Fiord on Ellesmere Island.
Prime Minister Stephen Harper is scheduled to travel to Resolute Bay on Monday for his annual trip to the Arctic while Gov.-Gen. David Johnston, who is currently touring the Arctic, was scheduled to hold events in Resolute Bay this weekend.
Kanata, Ont.-based First Air provides scheduled passenger and cargo service between 25 northern communities with connections to Edmonton, Winnipeg, Montreal and Ottawa.
The airline began in 1946 as Bradley Air Services, offering charter, surveying, passenger and cargo flights across northern Canada.

 

[jskibo]

Fleet shows it's a 200C combi.

 

[TheresaPilot]

RIP

 

[Vector4Food]

For those who have watched Ice Pilots, you know the types of conditions these guys fly in.

First Air has an excellent safety record, and flies the 737-200 combis daily, most if not all equipped with gravel kits.

These guys are flying into airports using 40's era tech for approaches sometimes, but also in addition with GPS obviously.

Their crews are top rate, and great people, their "community" is a small one, RIP to the families and friends

 

[A150K]

Not good RIP.

 

[ASpilot2be]

RIP

 

[Vector4Food]

I want to add that the guys and girls flying up there are flying in what ate considered some of the most challenging conditions for any flight crew, and they do it routinely.

They operate across vast expanses of frozen land, providing essential services to tiny Inuit communities.

The conditions and situations they deal with are some 99% of pilots around the world wouldn't come close to seeing, nobody leads them by the hand, they fly without the benefit of ATC radar assistance into gravel strips most pilots wouldn't consider landing a Cessna 172 on.

Not to mention doing it all at -40 to -50 degrees Celsius!

 

[Vector4Food]

Amazing anyone survived...

 

[ASpilot2be]

That is a very sobering picture.

 

[Pilotforhire587]

Not a good day for Pilots....

 

[Rotor2Wing]

RIP

Blue Skies....

 

[MQAAord]

Very, very sad.

 

[Vector4Food]

Some updates.

Approach supposedly was to runway 35 (degrees true)

However normally an uncontrolled airport, currently operating as a MTCA (Military terminal control area) to support the Canadian Forces operation Nanook, our show of force against outside threats against our new found resources.

More to this, the ILS was supposedly NOTAMd U/S this I haven't independently confirmed.

 

[Vector4Food]

Rumour mill still churning, now most say the ILS was in service at the time.

Here is an image an amatuer posted on another site, yellow line shows the wreckage trail, you can see the runway to the south of the impact site (if accurate)

 

[dasleben]

Circle to land?

Very sad...

 

[Itchy]

It looks like trying to land on the moon. I imagine depth perception could be an ongoing issue operating out of places like that.

 

[Vector4Food]

Some up close pictures from the accident scene...

http://www.tsb.gc.ca/eng/medias-media/photos/aviation/A11H0002/A11H0002.asp

 

[Vector4Food]

There's some pretty interesting evidence they may have flown a localizer approach to the VOR instead of the airport, but still speculation only at this point

 

[dasleben]

There's some pretty interesting evidence they may have flown a localizer approach to the VOR instead of the airport, but still speculation only at this point

Based on where they ended up and the relation of the VOR, I could imagine that...