Darrell Greer
Northern News Services

Rankin Inlet (Mar 22/00) - Two crew members are dead following a plane crash Friday afternoon a lake south of the Thelon Game Sanctuary.

Dead are Brent Eikel, 36, and Lyle Yurach, 52, both of Saskatoon, Sask. According to police, the two were attempting to land their DC-3 aircraft on an ice runway on Ennadia Lake.

The lake is about 400 kilometres west of Arviat -- northeast of Wollaston Lake, Sask, -- just inside the Nunavut border.

The two men were the only ones on board the aircraft at the time of the crash.

Cpl. Gary Hodges of the Arviat detachment of the RCMP said the crash was first reported about 1:30 p.m. CST Friday afternoon by workers at a commercial fishing camp at the site.

"The accident occurred at approximately 1:05 p.m. CST," said Hodges.

"The aircraft was loaded with freight for the fishing camp which is currently under construction at the site."

The downed aircraft was operated by Points North Airways of Saskatchewan. A team of investigators from the Winnipeg office of the Transportation Safety Board was dispatched to the crash scene to investigate the cause of the accident.

The DC-3 is a twin-engine aircraft designed in the 1930s.

The aircraft is designed to accommodate 26-30 passengers, with four abreast seating, and has a maximum gross takeoff weight of 26,700 pounds.

Members of the Arviat and Rankin Inlet RCMP detachments were transported to the crash site during the weekend on an RCMP twin-otter aircraft. No further information has been released.