N.W.T. plane crash victims ID'd as pilot, passenger
The two people who died in Tuesday's Air Tindi plane crash were pilot Matthew Bromley, 28, and passenger Tim Harris, 54, the chief coroner of the Northwest Territories confirms.
The bodies have been sent to Edmonton for post-mortems.
The Cessna 208B plane crashed near Lutselk'e, N.W.T. It was carrying four people.
The two survivors, Bernice Marlowe and Sheldon Catholique, are being treated at a hospital in Edmonton.
The coroner and the RCMP released the names Thursday afternoon at a press conference in Yellowknife.
The RCMP said they do not consider the crash suspicious.
The Transportation Safety Board of Canada said the plane was travelling at a high speed at the time of the crash, but it doesn't appear it was out of control. Officials also determined the plane hit the top of a hill.
John Pearson from the TSB said one of the wings entered the cabin as a result of the crash, and said it's fortunate there weren't more fatalities.
"Some parts were shed, the cargo box and propeller, landing gear were shed on the west side," said Pearson. "And other parts continued over to the east side of the peninsula and down 600 feet, down an eight-degree slope, then became airborne and the plane landed inverted."
The TSB, which has been investigating the crash since Wednesday, has removed some engine and flight instruments from the crash site and sent them to its labs in Ottawa.
The board is now hoping to re-create the last moments of the flight from that data.
Pearson said the investigation has not yet identified any policies or procedures which should be changed.
"We don't have any special concerns about the North being any less safe than southern parts of the country," said Pearson. "Aviation regulations are the same basically for all parts of the country. It's a challenging area to work here but the companies have done an admirable job of coping … with those conditions."
The board is also looking at weather conditions to try to determine the cause of the crash.
The investigation is expected to take up to a year.
In the House of Commons Thursday afternoon, New Democratic Party MP Dennis Bevington, who represents Western Arctic, asked his colleagues to stand with him to remember the victims of the plane crashes which have rocked the Arctic in recent weeks.
Bevington then called on the government to keep its word when it comes to aviation safety.
"Last year, government officials promised to beef up Transport Canada's aviation safety inspection arm," said Bevington. "My constituents will want to know that the government has kept its promises."