Cyclic Hotline
1st Nov 2004, 15:14
One Dead And Four Stranded After Weekend Helicopter Crash In Nunavut
Associated Press
KUGAARUK, Nunavut (CP) -- A helicopter crash in the high Arctic Saturday killed one person and injured four others, stranding them throughout the weekend while they waited out high winds and heavy snow.
Two pilots for Canadian Helicopters Ltd. and three contractors for Nasittuq Corp. were on board at the time of the crash about 150 kilometres south of Kugaaruk, Nunavut, said Bob Heighington of Canadian Helicopters in Edmonton.
They had just finished servicing the North Warning System station at Shepherd Bay, when their Bell 212 helicopter crashed at takeoff, said Pierre Balduc, of National Search and Rescue.
One person died on impact, while four others suffered unknown injuries.
Officials are not yet releasing names.
Two specialized search and rescue technicians were dispatched from Winnipeg in a Hercules aircraft Saturday afternoon.
They provided emergency medical care and are currently waiting at the station with the four stranded survivors until high winds and heavy snowfall subside.
``(Monday), weather permitting, a helicopter will go in and take all the injured people to Kugaaruk,'' said RCMP Const. Chris Coles.
RCMP and Transport Canada officials will follow shortly after to conduct an investigation, he said.
The North Warning System is a chain of 47 unmanned radar sites and five logistic support sites in the high Arctic that provide information about airborne activity in the vast region from Alaska, the Yukon, Northwest Territories, Nunavut and down the Labrador coast.
The system was constructed between 1986 and 1992 and replaced the cold-war-era Distant Early Warning Line.
In 2001, the Nasittuq corporation of Ottawa was awarded the operations and maintenance contract for the system.
Nasittuq, in turn, contracted Canadian Helicopters for transportation in the region.
The company was unavailable for comment on Sunday. (Edmonton Journal)
Associated Press
KUGAARUK, Nunavut (CP) -- A helicopter crash in the high Arctic Saturday killed one person and injured four others, stranding them throughout the weekend while they waited out high winds and heavy snow.
Two pilots for Canadian Helicopters Ltd. and three contractors for Nasittuq Corp. were on board at the time of the crash about 150 kilometres south of Kugaaruk, Nunavut, said Bob Heighington of Canadian Helicopters in Edmonton.
They had just finished servicing the North Warning System station at Shepherd Bay, when their Bell 212 helicopter crashed at takeoff, said Pierre Balduc, of National Search and Rescue.
One person died on impact, while four others suffered unknown injuries.
Officials are not yet releasing names.
Two specialized search and rescue technicians were dispatched from Winnipeg in a Hercules aircraft Saturday afternoon.
They provided emergency medical care and are currently waiting at the station with the four stranded survivors until high winds and heavy snowfall subside.
``(Monday), weather permitting, a helicopter will go in and take all the injured people to Kugaaruk,'' said RCMP Const. Chris Coles.
RCMP and Transport Canada officials will follow shortly after to conduct an investigation, he said.
The North Warning System is a chain of 47 unmanned radar sites and five logistic support sites in the high Arctic that provide information about airborne activity in the vast region from Alaska, the Yukon, Northwest Territories, Nunavut and down the Labrador coast.
The system was constructed between 1986 and 1992 and replaced the cold-war-era Distant Early Warning Line.
In 2001, the Nasittuq corporation of Ottawa was awarded the operations and maintenance contract for the system.
Nasittuq, in turn, contracted Canadian Helicopters for transportation in the region.
The company was unavailable for comment on Sunday. (Edmonton Journal)