Arctic “poses some big challenges” for pilots: expert

Here a Canadian Forces Hercules stands on the runway of the Resolute Bay airport Aug.18, against a wall of fog. (PHOTO BY JANE GEORGE)

MONIQUE MUISE
Postmedia News

MONTREAL — When it comes to air travel, very few places compare to Canada’s North, experts say.

Limited infrastructure, unpredictable weather, a unique solar cycle and even animal migrations all combine in the vast region to make it one of the most challenging environments in which to maintain and operate an aircraft.

On Saturday, Canadians were reminded just how difficult flying in that environment can be when First Air Flight 6560 crashed just outside of Resolute Bay, killing 12 people and seriously injuring three others.

Officials are now scrambling to determine what went wrong, but according to Yvan-Miville Des Chenes, a retired air traffic controller who helped guide planes in and out of the North for 30 years, narrowing down the cause of the crash may be difficult. Any number of factors could have been at play.

“It’s a very tough world,” Des Chenes said. “The vastness of the Arctic area poses some big challenges … especially for the air operations.”

The majority of airports in northern Quebec and Nunavut have short, unpaved runways that are lined with gravel. First Air has installed rock deflectors and metal plates on their large aircraft, Des Chenes said, which prevent loose stones from flying into the engines. In all but the largest communities, a paved runway is out of the question.

“[The cement] would have to be flown in. It’s impossible to fly asphalt or concrete. You’d have to make it on site, and the sheer price would be out of proportion.”

Mother Nature doesn’t make things any easier. During the winter months, the sun lights the runways for just a few hours a day, or not at all. Winds howl across vast, undulating plains and the temperature plummets, freezing engine oil within minutes.

When the short summer season finally arrives, pilots face a new series of challenges, Des Chenes said.

“Because of the nature of the ground there with bodies of water, when it gets warm in the summertime, the water is still very cold, and that creates fog very rapidly,” he explained. “[Resolute Bay] is right next to a big body of water, so fog rolls in often.”

If it isn’t fog moving across the runway, it can be migrating caribou. A fence had to be installed recently in Kuujjuaq, to keep the animals from crossing in front of planes, Des Chenes said.

Taking off and landing in these conditions — in both summer and winter — requires reliable, highly trained crews on the ground, and in northern communities, those positions are filled almost exclusively by members of the local Inuit population. When hunting season arrives, good help gets harder to find.

“Sometimes we had to delay flights because the airport operator is out hunting,” Des Chenes said.

Despite these challenges, air travel remains a necessity across much of the North. Most communities rely on planes to deliver everything from food to medical supplies, and if someone needs urgent medical care, an aircraft is often the only way out. The airlines that operate in the region have exemplary safety records, said Des Chenes. Between them, First Air, Air Inuit and Creebec airlines have seen a handful of serious accidents in recent memory, but only a few of those have been fatal.

Pilots are re-tested every six months, just like in the southern areas of the country, said Des Chenes, and they know the terrain extremely well. Before getting in the driver’s seat, a new pilot will fly countless hours alongside a more experienced one.

Des Chenes said the fact that so many planes take off and land each day in the North without incident is a testament to the dedication of the men and women who work the region’s skies and runways.