TSB to release final report on 2011 Nunavut air disaster March 25

Transportation Safety Board investigators comb through the wreckage of First Air’s flight 6560, which crashed Aug. 20, 2011 near Resolute Bay’s airport. (FILE PHOTO)

Survivors of the fatal 2011 crash of First Air flight 6560 in Resolute Bay, and the families of the 12 victims, may finally get some answers as to why the Boeing 737 jet flew into a hill one mile east of the runway, when the Transportation Safety Board releases a final investigation report March 25.

A March 21 news release has invited media to attend a news conference in Ottawa next Tuesday morning, when two TSB board members and Brian MacDonald, the lead investigator, will release their findings into the Aug. 20, 2011 disaster, following an investigation that began two and a half years ago.

For those who cannot attend, the TSB will webcast the news conference live.

First Air flight 6560, a charter, was en route to Resolute from Yellowknife Aug. 20, 2011, when it crashed into the ground, killing four crew members and eight passengers, and injuring three other passengers.

In 2012, lawyers filed civil suits on behalf of survivors and victims’ families in the Nunavut Court of Justice seeking compensation from First Air, Nav Canada and the Department of National Defence.

Those statements of claim allege that at the time of the accident, Nav Canada and the DND had an agreement to operate the Resolute airport and the surrounding airspace as an air traffic controlled facility.

At the time of the crash, the DND had begun operations in Resolute related to Operation Nanook, the federal government’s annual Arctic sovereignty exercise.

As well, First Air has filed a statement of claim against the DND, alleging negligence.