Charter flight crashes outside of Inuvik

Pilot and passenger escape injury

Northern News Services

Yellowknife (Nov 09/01) - A pilot and one passenger escaped injury Friday evening after the plane they were in crashed about six kilometres from the Mike Zubko airport.

The single-engine Cessna 208B, operated by Stage Air, crashed at about 7:30 p.m. on its way to Inuvik.

According to the Transportation Safety Board in Edmonton, the accident happened because the pilot became disoriented.

"The pilot was following normal procedures and he apparently lost awareness of where he was and then he hit the ground," said technical investigator Barry Holt.

At the time of the accident, snow was falling and the ceiling was low, with visibility of about one kilometre.

Seventeen firefighters from Inuvik's volunteer fire department responded to the call but they were unable to locate the crash by snowmobile. After several hours, a helicopter was called to collect the two stranded men.