12 killed in passenger plane crash in Canada
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Xinhua, August 21, 2011
A Boeing 737 passenger jet crashed on Saturday near Resolute Bay, Nunavut, in Canada's High Arctic, killing 12 people and injuring three others on board, local media reported.
The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC) said that the plane, First Air charter flight 6560, was traveling from Yellowknife in Northwestern Territories to Resolute Bay in Nunavut with 15 people on board, including four crew members.
On Monday, the Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper is scheduled to travel to Resolute Bay on his annual trip to oversee a massive military exercise.
The Joint Rescue Coordination Center in Canadian Forces Base in Trenton, Ontario, said helicopters and medical personnel are now at the site.
Hundreds of military personnel are currently in the area for the massive military exercise Operation Nanook, Canada's annual military show in the Arctic region.
But the military says that the incident was not a part of a simulation planned for the operation, and the plane had been scheduled to continue on to Ellesmere Island.
It is not clear if the people aboard are military or civilian.
In a statement confirming the crash, First Air said the plane's last reported communication was at 12:40 p.m. CT, approximately eight kilometers from the airport in Resolute, and that the plane went down ten minutes later.
A weather report for travelers on First Air's website reported "shallow fog" with a temperature of 7 Celsius at mid-afternoon local time.
Canadian Governor General David Johnston, who is currently touring the Arctic region, was also scheduled to hold events in Resolute Bay this weekend.
First Air, which is based in Kanata, Ontario, provides scheduled passenger and cargo service between Canada's northern communities and the rest of the country.
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