Three killed as wildfire-fighting plane crashes near Fort Simpson
A Turbo Commander aircraft supporting fire suppression efforts in the N.W.T. went down Wednesday night roughly 50 kilometres from Fort Simpson.
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Three people died when their plane crashed while supporting wildfire suppression efforts in the Northwest Territories on Wednesday night.
RCMP and NWT Fire confirmed the fatalities Thursday afternoon after first responders accessed the crash site near Fort Simpson, about 300 kilometres north of the B.C.-N.W.T. border.
The aircraft was a fixed-wing Turbo Commander AC960, nicknamed "Bird Dog 104," part of a fire suppression team based at the Hay River airport. During aerial attacks on wildfires, a bird dog aircraft provides a lead-in ahead of an air tanker, with the bird dog pilot directing traffic and an air attack officer assessing the fire and directing tankers to drop locations. Bird Dog 104 was one of four such aircraft in the GNWT air tanker fleet.
The crash occurred around 7:30 p.m. Wednesday roughly 50 kilometres from Fort Simpson. The 100-hectare out-of-control wildfire, detected June 23 in the wilderness west of Fort Simpson, is believed to have started naturally.
The identities of the three people who died have not been released. The Transportation Safety Board has been called in to investigate alongside the RCMP, N.W.T. coroner service, and territorial government. NWT Fire said critical incident stress management teams are being deployed to support wildfire management staff at several bases.
