The burning wreck of a sophisticated CF-18 fighter jet off lqaluit's runway this summer has again focused attention on the dangers of northern flight.

In this latest incident, Capt. Ken Welch, 28, ejected from the plane in the nick of time and hurt only his knee despite a "fairly brutal" escape.

Others were not so lucky. Pilot Martin Bouvier, 31, of Montreal and his co-pilot James Batten, 32, died when a First Air Twin Otter crashed last Monday during a fuel run between Iqaluit and Markham Bay, 80 kilometres west of the community.

Transportation Safety Board officials are investigating the cause of the accident. Like Welch, the Twin Otter crew were professional full time pilots. This year's record for part-time pilots in the NWT is worse, although the exact causes of the accidents are not all known.

A week before the CF-18 went down, a small home-built plane crashed on an lqaluit beach when the engine failed. The pilot was not injured. Friends and relatives continue to search for Fort Smith pilot Gavin Edkins, 36 years old and the father of two children. His Cessna 150 went missing May 19 in a heavily wooded area between Fort McMurray and Red Deer, Alta. A fundraising drive is on to pay for the search to continue.

Another Cessna 150 crashed on May 25. Pilot Lee Penny, 37, of Yellowknife and friend Marie Benoit, 33, were saved thanks to the pilot of a trailing plane. Penny suffered significant brain damage.

Yet, statistics show that this year's disasters are not much different from other years'. The NWT Workers' Compensation Board even saw fit recently to cut assessment rates in the aviation sector by 25 per cent for 1997.

Norm Muffitt, Transport Canada's director of aviation enforcement for the Prairie and Northern region, says our airways are safe.

The NWT, like the rest of Canada, has very high standards for aircraft and pilots, Muffitt said.

"Any company that has an operation's certificate is a company I would put my family on any time. I feel a lot safer in the air than on the highways.

"The bush pilot mentality is slowly dissolving, and young pilots are becoming more professional," said Moffitt. " They're far more safety-conscious nowadays."

Up to July, the Transportation Safety Board had recorded 10 aviation accidents - two resulted in deaths. Nationally, there have been 190 accidents, 18 fatal accidents and 34 deaths.

The region has averaged nine accidents per year between 1991 and 1995 in the region, compared to the national average of 248.

"For our purposes, upwards of 80 per cent of accidents involve a human error," said Clyde Johnson, a spokesman for the Transportation Safety Board.

Flying a fixed-wing plane or a helicopter is like driving a car, he said, except when there's trouble in the air. Pilots have to think very quickly and hope and pray to find a lake to land safely.

If a pilot can't find a lake, an accident is almost inevitable, Johnson said.

With the North's harsh climate and rugged terrain, accidents can be severe.

So far this year, Safety Board officials have investigated only two crashes. One involved the mid-air collision of two Canadian helicopters in the spring, he said. The cause of that accident has not been determined.

The most recent safety board ruling, made last November, was not reassuring. It involved a fatal 1993 plane crash near Tuktoyaktuk.

A Britten-Norman Islander crashed into a frozen lake near the Beaufort community minutes after takeoff on a routine flight to Inuvik. Seven people, including a two-week-old baby, died instantly.

In the ruling, the board said a part of the plane's right engine jammed soon after takeoff. It was worn beyond the manufacturer's prescribed limits.

The pilot, trying to balance the plane, accidentally put it into a spin.

There were approximately 8,440 registered aircraft in the Prairie and Northern region as of December 31, 1995, and 17,944 pilots, (most of which belong to Alberta, Winnipeg and Saskatchewan).

To obtain a private licence, about 45 hours' flight time is usually required.

There's also a minimum number of hours for a commercial licence. Insurance companies or companies that hire pilots may require more flying time.