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Airplanes like this De Havilland Canada DHC-6 Twin Otter on Beechey Island in the High Arctic play an indispensable role in Northern transportation. - photo by Ansgar Walk (Wikimedia Commons)

NORTHWEST TERRITORIES
Eight weeks, four plane crashes - three of them fatal.

It's been a difficult time for the NWT's close-knit aviation community, and at the periphery of their pain over fallen comrades is the doubt in the minds of some passengers flying our Northern skies - at least right now.

Passengers have been balking at flying on small aircraft, said a Yellowknife-based pilot who asked not to be named.

"Well, I mean people around here have been a lot more anxious about flying. Some people have actually been too scared to fly," he said, adding he recently had a customer back out of getting one of his flights, opting instead for a long drive up a muddy highway.

Pilots too are little more wary, he said.

"From a pilot standpoint - I can tell just by the tone that (pilots are) kind of - not necessarily second-guessing themselves, but putting a lot more thought into safety and the more correct way of doing things," he said.

"It's just a matter of how careful you want to be and I think everyone, since all this stuff has happened in the North is being much more careful. And I mean, that's a good thing for sure."

For the most part, the aviation community is remaining tight-lipped about how people within their employ are dealing with recent tragic events.

Air Tindi president Chuck Parker said he is not prepared to comment on the crash his airline suffered two weeks ago that left two dead, including pilot Matthew Bromley, and two injured.

In a statement published on the Air Tindi's website, Parker thanked the people of the North for their support.

"It is not uncommon for people in the North to questions why we choose to live and work in the place we do," it read.

"The overwhelming outpouring of support that we've witnessed this week is a clear demonstration of why each and every one of us call ourselves a Northerner."

Those affected by crashes in the NWT this year are being offered counselling services by the Yellowknife Health and Social Services, a standard procedure after a tragedy.

Les Harrison, chief executive officer the health authority, said they are offering grief counselling and group sessions to deal with the aftermath of the Lutsel K'e-bound Air Tindi crash, Oct. 4 and the Arctic Sunwest crash Sept. 22 in Old Town.

"I mean, everybody's hearts reach out to those families, and I mean, this community is like a large extended family in a way. So people really are affected and they try to reach out and support the family members and victim's families," said Harrison. "I think it really speaks to the kind of character of people in this community - we've got some great people."

Air Tindi is providing company-wide counselling services that include individual and group sessions for employees, family members, and members of the Yellowknife and Lutsel K'e communities.

"It's not mandatory but we have seen in similar situations where individuals do attend the group counselling sessions, especially the critical first responders, said Jugjit More-Curran, human resources manager for Discovery Air North business services, which owns Air Tindi.

Investigations continue into what caused the Air Tindi and Arctic Sunwest crashes, as well as the First Air crash Aug. 20, which crashed en route to Resolute from Yellowknife, and left 12 of 15 on board dead, including its four crew.

Generally speaking, the Canadian Transportation Safety Board produces a report stating the cause of an accident within a year of the incident.

John Pearson, TSB's investigator in charge of the Air Tindi crash investigation, said that the wreckage from the crash has been transported to Yellowknife by helicopter and truck, where it will be more thoroughly examined in the coming weeks. Investigators will also return to the crash site 40 km northwest of Lutsel K'e next week.

But beyond answering the question of what exactly caused this crash and others, there is the nagging question of what it all means - or doesn't - for Northern aviation.

"The issues of how safe is Northern aviation, well, it's a difficult thing to answer," said Pearson.

"Accidents do happen unfortunately but our goal is to put the information out there and help prevent recurrences in the future if it's possible."

Earl Blacklock, manager of public affairs and communications for the Department of Transportation, -- who helped facilitate rescue operations and deal with information flow directly after the Air Tindi crash -- said he for one is unaffected as a passenger.

"The fact that each of these were by different airlines and from different causes. I'm the biggest coward there is and when it comes to air travel, these crashes don't bother me in the least," he said.

"I retain my normal fear, but when you look at the fact that this isn't just one airline having these problems, you know, inevitably we have crashes. Whether (or not) you see them all clustered together."

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