A long journey home from Alaska for AWG Team Nunavik

Team Nunavik-Quebec spent Saturday night at the Whitehorse airport as they were travelling home from the Arctic Winter Games in Fairbanks, Alaska.

The Air Inuit charter flight with seven crew and 105 passengers on board.had landed just before 2 a.m. so the passengers could go through customs.
 
The plane is owned by the company Flair Operations. David Atkinson is the Director of Operations.

"We were made aware of some fuel leaking from a drain mast in the fuselage of the aircraft, so that's not typically normal," he said.

"We halted the operation, we deplaned the crew and passengers. We have a maintenance person on board the aircraft who worked with the ground crew to immediately help facilitate cleanup and begin troubleshooting the problem." 

The team spent the night in the airport, but assistant chef de mission Ben Whiddon says they made the most of their time.

"We spent the rest of the night playing Inuit games and Dene games and lots of laughs and good times, so some sleepy faces for sure but, overall, we are handling it very well," he said.

On Sunday morning, the passengers were given food vouchers and rooms in a local hotel while they waited for repairs to be made on the aircraft.

While many of the athletes slept, others took the opportunity to do some shopping and sightseeing around Whitehorse.