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MITTIMATALIK/POND INLET
Canadian North will not overnight its planes in Pond Inlet until security is improved after someone broke into a plane Wednesday night, the fourth such incident in the hamlet in two years.

"We really can't keep having our airplanes damaged," president Tracy Medve said. "That's not something we can tolerate."

Until now, the airline has parked its planes overnight at the airport, but that changed after someone broke into a parked 37-passenger de Havilland Dash-8.

"We lock the doors of our airplanes, and the lock has a clasp lock that was broken," Medve said. "In the process of doing that, they damaged the skin area around the door."

Because of the last break-in, the airline lost $250,000 after ferrying the plane south for repairs and chartering a replacement for several weeks.

"The damage itself was absolutely horrendous," that time, she said. "They used a shovel to hack at the door and it was a real mess. The damage was so extensive we couldn't do the repairs ourselves in Iqaluit. We had to take it to a heavy maintenance facility."

Tununiq MLA Joe Enook expressed concern about that incident in the legislature Feb. 21, saying his constituents benefit from having a service that gets them to Iqaluit in time to make mid-day connections elsewhere.

"If this situation continues, there is a risk that airlines will no longer be able to overnight their aircraft in Pond Inlet," Enook said at the time, "which will cause significant disruptions to flight schedules and severely inconvenience my constituents."

As a remedy, Economic Development and Transportation Minister Peter Taptuna said Feb. 28 that his department increased lighting on the ramps, workers started locking the gate to the ramps after hours, and hamlet bylaw officers increased patrols at the airport - unfortunately, this did not prevent Wednesday's incident.

Medve said Pond Inlet Mayor Jaykolasie Killiktee has called for a meeting this week to discuss the situation, which is the subject of much discussion on social media websites. Residents are concerned the airline might abandon the hamlet.

That's not going to happen, she said, but overnighting is not an option for now, and the daily flight schedule between Pond Inlet and Iqaluit may be adjusted in the short-term as a result.

"If we can't find a way to solve this problem, then obviously it will impact our decision-making around the viability of overnighting aircraft in communities away from our main base in Iqaluit," she said. "It could impact the schedule they have now, but I hope we don't end up there.

"In the meantime, unless there's someone watching our specific airplane during the hours it's on the ground, we won't overnight in Pond. It's a bit of a day-by-day situation right now."

To add fuel to the fury around the situation, Medve said the airline does not leave anything of value on its aircraft at night, including food and drink.

"We don't keep anything on board the aircraft, so there's nothing to steal. I don't know what they were looking for."

The plane damaged Wednesday was set to fly to Iqaluit for a damage assessment Thursday, but couldn't leave until Friday morning due to weather. The flight was made under a ferry permit, meaning passengers were not allowed on board.

Medve welcomed Taptuna's February promise of surveillance cameras at the airport, but said they will be of little benefit if there is no one watching them who can respond in case of another break-in.

RCMP did not respond to calls made over the holiday weekend asking whether a suspect had been arrested in relation to the latest incident.

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