Plane crash kills 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 travelling from Yellowknife in North-western Territories to Resolute Bay in Nunavut with 15 people on board, including four crew members.
Today, 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 Resolute, which is at 74 41 0 N, 94 52 0 W and at the Northwest Passage in the Arctic region, for the massive military exercise Operation Nanook, Canada’s annual military show in the Arctic region.
But the military said 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 civilians.
In a statement confirming the crash, First Air said the plane’s last reported communication was at 12:40 pm CT (Central Standard Time), approximately eight kilometres from the airport in Resolute, and that the plane went down ten minutes later.
A weather report for travellers 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. – Xinhua.