Eight people are recovering after a plane crashed in Thompson Tuesday evening.
The Keystone Air Service plane was returning to the airport around 6:45 p.m. when it crashed just short of the runway.
In a statement, the company’s president, Cliff Arlt said the aircraft, a Navajo Chieftain, “may have been fueled with jet fuel in error, by the aircraft refuelers, rather than Avgas, as would have been required for the Navajo.”
None of the injuries were deemed to be life-threatening.
Keystone said the six passengers got out of the plane on their own.
Late Wednesday afternoon, the province announced all six passengers were government employees.
Three were from the Northern Airport and Marine Operations. two from Manitoba Business Transformation and Technology and one from Manitoba Infrastructure and Transportation.
“Our thoughts are with the passengers and crew who thankfully survived what must have been a terrifying experience,” said Premier Greg Selinger in a statement. “We know their families will be by their sides as they recover from their injuries.”
TSB investigators were scheduled to head north to the crash site on Wednesday morning.
Officials will assess the site, recover the black box recording device and have it analyzed.
“They’ll be looking at the functionality of the aircraft were the engines developing power, were the flight controls all working properly,” said Eric Vermette with the Transportation Safety Board. “They’ll look at fuel systems, they’ll look at all the components of the aircraft to determine what occurred.”
This is the not the first crash involving Keystone Air Service.
Back in January 2012, a Piper Navajo — also operated by Keystone Air Service — crashed near a remote Northern Ontario community killing four people after it departed Winnipeg.
The pilot and three passengers were killed; one other passenger survived.
Pilot inexperience was deemed the cause of that crash.
Back in 2002, a twin-engine plan ran out of fuel and both engines cut out. Less than 20 seconds later the captain transmitted that the aircraft had experienced a double engine failure, according to the Aviation Investigation Report.
The aircraft crashed at McPhillips Street and Logan Avenue, striking traffic signals and several vehicles.
All seven of the aircraft passengers and several of the vehicle occupants were seriously injured; one passenger died of his injuries.
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