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A Canadian Forces member awaits a helicopter arriving from the crash site of First Air flight 6560. The plane crashed on landing in Resolute from Yellowknife on Aug. 20. There were three survivors and 12 dead. - photo courtesy of Canadian Forces

QUASUITTUQ/RESOLUTE
According to a Transportation Safety Board advisory dated Feb. 8, First Air Flight 6560 was not alone in the airspace above Resolute on Aug. 20, 2011, and traffic control was performed differently for Operation Nanook 2011 on the day of the fatal crash.

The federal agency investigating the circumstances surrounding Flight 6560, which claimed 12 lives and injured three people when it crashed in Resolute on Aug. 20, 2011, noted the First Air plane and another aircraft were not a safe distance apart that day. The aviation safety advisory dated Feb. 8 also notes the military radar at the Resolute airport was not completely installed.

Resolute airport is an uncontrolled airspace, meaning aircraft take off and land using their own instruments. But as part of Operation Nanook 2011 in Resolute, the Canadian Forces had set up what is called a temporary Class D control zone to handle increased air traffic for the exercise, explains the advisory. This means planes must receive permission to enter the airspace and take instructions from air traffic control.

Three minutes before the crash, a second aircraft operating under instrument flight rules (IFR) entered the zone without proper IFR separation, states the advisory.

"Had the First Air flight not hit the ground, there could have been a risk of a mid-air collision," states the advisory. "The military radar installed for Op Nanook was not usable at the time of the accident as a flight check had not yet been performed to verify radar accuracy."

But the advisory noted the military agency responsible to provide the air traffic control equipment and operation to be very experienced. It adds the operation in Resolute was to be the first complete airfield operation in a civil environment.

"The planning for this operation did not include the contingency for the provision of IFR services in a non-radar environment," stated the safety advisory.

What connection the second plane had with the crash and how dangerous an incomplete installed radar system would be has been raised with Transport Canada and (the Department of National Defence), said John Cottreau, a spokesman with the Transportation Safety Board.

"Those questions have been raised as part of an ongoing investigation and they'll be dealt with in the final report," he said. "We can't talk about them right now; they're part of an ongoing investigation."

The Department of National Defence did not returning phone calls as of press time.

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