Four people are dead and one is injured following a plane crash and a desperate rescue attempt in a remote first nations community in Ontario on Tuesday.
As residents of the North Spirit Lake Reserve mourn the victims of the crash, the incident is raising questions about the safety record of the airline involved. Keystone Air Service has had its air operating certificate suspended twice by Transport Canada during the past decade over safety concerns.
Residents of the North Spirit Lake Reserve said they could hear the small plane making "put-put" sounds as it circled overhead on Tuesday morning. When it crashed onto a frozen lake just minutes from the local airport, residents rushed to the scene of the accident and tried to douse the flames of the burning wreckage by throwing snow and breaking the ice to pump water onto it.
The Piper PA 31 Navajo plane was heading from St. Andrews, Man., to the reserve, which is about 400 kilometres north of Dryden, Ont., when it crashed.
Darcy Kejick, who owns a store in the reserve community, was among the first to arrive at the scene of the accident, along with his wife and a local police officer. Despite whiteout conditions, the group was able to find the plane by following a plume of thick black smoke that was already rising above the treetops, Mr. Kejick said.
After helping another man pull the plane's lifeless pilot from the wreckage, Mr. Kejick said he spotted the crash's lone survivor walking away from the plane.
He put the man on a snowmobile and drove him to the local clinic for treatment. The man, whose name has not been released, was treated for burns and later airlifted to Winnipeg.
Band council member Maggie Kakegamic said her friend was that lone survivor.
"I went and saw him [the survivor]," she said. "He said, 'I'll be okay.' I hope he is. He's one of our workers. They're monitoring him right now."
Ontario Provincial Police Sergeant Rob McDonough said the victims included two males and two females, but cannot be named until next of kin have been notified.
Eric Feldman, a local school official, said the daughter and grandson of a kindergarten teacher at the reserve died in the crash. Shayne Rae, a volunteer at the North Spirit Lake Band Council, said his cousin was one of the four killed. A band worker, Martha Campbell, was also among the dead, residents said.
"A lot of people are in mourning, grieving right now," Mr. Kejick said. "It's a small community. We're all affected by what happened today."
Several community members said the blizzard conditions Tuesday morning were not safe for landing, but the Transportation Safety Board of Canada said it's too early to say what went wrong. It's sending two investigators, who are expected to arrive at the reserve on Wednesday.
George Riopka, spokesman for Keystone Air Service, which was operating the flight, said details are still sketchy and he couldn't say if the weather or mechanical failure were issues. "The weather was flyable," he said, adding they only have general weather information for the area that includes North Spirit Lake.
The airline is providing grief counselling for the victims' families and will wait for the Transportation Safety Board to conclude its investigation, he said.
But Transport Canada records reveal that Keystone has had safety problems before. In 2002, its air operating certificate was suspended for 10 days following the crash of a Piper plane in Manitoba, and the company was fined later that year for penalties under the Aeronautics Act.
Transport Canada suspended Keystone's air operator certificate again in 2004 over "significant safety concerns with the company's maintenance management system." The certificate was re-instated after two weeks.
After implementing a safety management system approved by Transport Canada, Mr. Riopka told the Winnipeg Free Press in 2005 that Keystone is "the safest small airline in the province right now."
Then in 2007, a Keystone Air Service pilot was convicted of dangerous operation of an aircraft, as well as criminal negligence causing death and bodily harm. Mark Tayfel was flying six U.S. tourists from a northern hunting lodge in a Keystone Air plane in June 2002 when it crashed in Winnipeg. Initially, Mr. Tayfel was hailed as a hero for making the emergency landing with no fatalities, but he was later charged when it was found he had taken off without enough fuel to fly safely. One of the passengers, 79-year-old Chester Jones, died of his injuries three months after the crash.
Transport Canada has appointed a Minister's Observer to keep the department informed of the investigation's progress, a spokesperson said in an e-mail statement.
With reports from The Canadian Press