Family honours ‘gentle’ man who died after plane crash
The family of a 19-year-old man who died two weeks after sustaining grievous injuries in a northern Saskatchewan airliner crash celebrated his life and laid him to rest on Tuesday.
Arson Fern Jr. died in a Saskatoon hospital on Christmas Day. He suffered two broken legs, a broken pelvis, a collapsed lung and internal bleeding when the West Wind Aviation ATR-42 crashed on Dec. 13.
“You have to accept life to let go of a love(d) one,” his mother, Janey Fern, said in a Facebook message. “We lost our son on Christmas Day and start the New Year with heartache and sadness as we lay our baby boy to rest.
“I know he is no longer in pain and suffering. His spirit will keep us strong as he looks down on us from heaven. It was his time and God took him back. He was happy, loved and a gentle young man.”
The Stony Rapids-bound plane was carrying 22 passengers and three crew members when it smashed into the ground moments after taking off from Fond du Lac, about 800 kilometres north of Saskatoon. Everyone on board was injured, seven of them critically.
It is unclear what caused the French- and Italian-made airliner to go down. The Transportation Safety Board of Canada (TSB) has ruled out engine failure, but said its investigation will likely take months.
The condition of the other passengers and crew members injured in the crash is also unclear.
A TSB spokeswoman said the agency does not report on injuries; the new Saskatchewan Health Authority declined to comment.
Fern, who suffered from cerebral palsy and used a wheelchair, spent three hours trapped in the wreckage after the crash, according to family members, who confirmed his death in an interview and online posts last week.
“Now it’s time for him to say goodbye in a special way. I love you my son forever,” Janey Fern said in a Facebook message the day of her son’s funeral, adding that his death has been extremely hard on the family.
West Wind voluntarily grounded its four remaining ATR-42s after the crash. Transport Canada, the country’s airline regulator, subsequently suspended the Saskatoonbased airline’s operator certificate, citing deficiencies in its operational control system.
Transport Canada declined an interview request. In an email, spokeswoman Annie Joanette said an effective operational control system ensures operations “are compliant with safety requirements for things such as the dispatching of personnel and aircraft.”
Transport Canada will reinstate West Wind Aviation’s Air Operator Certificate when the company demonstrates compliance with aviation safety regulations,” Joanette said in the email.