FOND DU LAC CRASH
Survivors offered counselling, support
Investigators may soon gain insight into why an ATR 42 aircraft carrying 25 people crashed shortly after takeoff near the Northern Saskatchewan community of Fond du Lac.
The crash happened around 6:15 p.m. Wednesday when the plane, on its way from Fond du Lac to Stony Rapids, went down. No one was killed, but numerous people suffered injuries. The cause of the crash, which left a path of wreckage at least 800 feet long, is still under investigation.
The Transportation Safety Board of Canada (TSB) sent out an update Friday indicating investigators retrieved three pieces of equipment from the crash site, including the flight data recorder, the cockpit voice recorder and the plane’s emergency locator transmitter.
The TSB indicated that West Wind Aviation, which owns the plane, has grounded its four remaining ATR aircraft. West Wind spokesman Rick Philipenko said the move was voluntary and will be in effect until the company concludes parts of its internal investigation.
“It’s purely precautionary,” he said, noting he expects the planes to be back in the air early next week. He said the grounding will not affect service to customers, since West Wind has a fleet of 30 aircraft.
Work to provide supports for the affected people has just begun, said Darryl Galusha, chief executive officer with the Athabasca Health Authority.
“We have a long way to go,” he said.
“We’ve provided mental health counselling now. We started that the night of the incident and we’re carrying on … providing services and mental health services to the staff, the community members and the individuals involved ... The minute we got people stabilized, we had our counsellors in, working with people.”
Galusha said collaboration between medical staff, community members and emergency responders helped a chaotic and potentially dangerous rescue mission run smoothly.
“People put the needs of others ahead of their own,” he said.
Jayden Augier, one of the Fond du Lac residents who responded to the crash, said the entire community came together for the rescue.
“We’re all family up here. We couldn’t stand by,” he said in a Facebook message.
“(It) didn’t matter who was in that plane. Local or not they needed us (and) we dropped everything we were doing elsewhere and went as fast as we could.”
Philipenko was unable to provide updates on the condition of crew members or passengers, but said West Wind will do “everything that we can” to support them and their families through the incident. Many are still receiving care and access to trauma councillors is being provided alongside travel assistance. “As soon as they’re prepared to come back to work, we’ll accommodate them,” he said of the affected employees.