Plane slips off runway at Mary River mine site; no passengers injured

By Tom Taylor Northern News Services

Journalism Initiative reporter

Early on the morning of Monday, July 10, a charter plane slipped off the runway at the Mary River iron mine site, nearly tipping onto its side as a result.

The aircraft, operated by Summit Air, was bound for Clyde River. The incident occurred during taxiing, before takeoff. There were five Baffinland employees and two crew members on the flight.

Nobody was injured.

Adamee Atsiqtaq, one of the passengers on board, called the experience “one of the scariest” of his life.

“It’s still fresh in my mind,” he said from Clyde River, two days after the incident. “It was very scary. You realize life is precious.”

Atsiqtaq said officials “came over right away” after the plane went off the runway, and set up a step ladder outside the door of the aircraft to help passengers disembark.

It was not difficult to exit the plane, he said.

Baffinland Iron Mines, the company that operates the Mary River mine, acknowledged the incident in an email.

Peter Akman, the company’s head of stakeholder relations and communications, said Transport

Canada was notified of the incident and an investigation into the cause is underway. He said the mining company immediately offered counselling to the passengers on the plane.

Atsiqtaq, who believes he is experiencing symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and has been using cannabis to manage his stress, said he will never board a plane again.

“Life’s too short,” he said. “I don’t want to get on a plane when I have no control over it.”