Adlair’s Paul Laserich dies

Well-known northerner Paul Laserich has passed away.

The Deputy Coroner of the Northwest Territories, Tamara Hynd, confirmed the news to CBC News. Hynd said the death is not suspicious. Laserich was 52 years old.

Laserich's sister, Joann Laserich, said he was found at home by a family member.

Laserich was the general manager of Adlair Aviation Ltd. Laserich's father, Willy Laserich, began the family business in 1983 and the elder Laserich was inducted into Canada's Aviation Hall of Fame last year.

The company’s fleet of about five planes is based in Cambridge Bay, Nunavut, where Laserich grew up. He lived in Yellowknife where the company’s administrative offices are based.

Laserich's younger sister, Joanne Laserich, told CBC News the family is devastated and in shock. She said the death was sudden and unexpected.

She described her brother as being larger than life, radiant, and very kind and generous.

The family is now planning a memorial service for Laserich, to be held at the Adlair hangar in Yellowknife.

The company just recently lost an appeal against the Government of Nunavut's decision to award a lucrative medevac contract to Aqsaqniq Airways Ltd.

Adlair had had the contract to provide emergency medevac flights in the Kitikmeot region for the past 20 years. But last summer, the government awarded the contract to a joint venture between Taloyoak-based Aqsaqniq and Yellowknife-based Air Tindi.