Plane goes down near Rankin Inlet, 3 people on board believed 'safe'

A Kudlik Aviation flightwent down near Rankin Inlet, Nunavut, Tuesday morning.

The plane was travelling from nearby Chesterfield Inlet when it went down about five nautical miles, ornine kilometres, southeast of Rankin Inlet.

Two pilots and a passenger on board walked away from the plane and are all "safe," according to Jean Labrecque, the company's operations manager.

He saidhe couldn't comment on the cause of the incident whilethe Transportation Safety Board of Canada investigates, but said there was a "technical issue" with the plane.

"They had to land on the ice," Labrecque said.

The planeis affiliated with Kudlik Construction, which does work around the territory. The aircraft is used to move the company's staffand cargo from different job sites.

Labrecque said everyone was able to walk off the planeand was taken off the ice by local search and rescue members andthe RCMP.

A spokesperson from the Transportation Safety Board of Canada said they were still gathering information on the incident.

Harry Towtongie, mayor of Rankin Inlet,said he doesn't know much about what happened, but confirmed everybody on board is "OK."

"They got picked up pretty quick," Towtongie said.

"I'm glad they're okay. It sounds like they're okay. And I'm just wondering how they're going to get the plane out of where it is right now. See how they do that, I guess. It'll be interesting."

Towtongie said he couldn't remember a time in the last 20 years where a plane had gone down near the community.

"It doesn't happen often. I guess we're lucky," he said.