It gives new definition to the term ‘roughing it’.
Up to five contracted SaskPower workers had to spend a night in the deep bush after a Saskatchewan-based airline failed to pick them up.
Transwest Air says a crew member’s mental error caused a group of workers to spend a night at their work site in northern Saskatchewan on April 21.
“Incoming flight crew thought he had picked up all of the (crews), I think there was 7 different crews out,” said Jim Glass, Managing Partner with Transwest Air.
“(The flight team) got back to base, shut the helicopter down, and by that time we’d already known there was one crew that he had missed.”
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By the time the error was discovered, it was too dark to try to pick them up. The group of stranded employees constructed makeshift shelters and went without food until they were picked up the next morning.
They were working on a power line roughly 100 kilometers north of La Ronge, Sask., between Key Lake and Sandy Bay.
According to the airline, crews are generally dropped off in the morning then picked up in the evening.
Transwest Air apologized for the error and the company has since implemented new procedures to prevent it from happening again.
“It’s a serious situation and we understand that they were upset,” said Glass.
“We’re not trying to minimize it or anything. It was an error made by an individual and hopefully the new procedures we put in place will prevent it from happening again.”
The new procedures involve improved communication between flight crews and dispatch.
SaskPower conducted an investigation of its own following the incident and said it now considers the matter closed.
The affected employees were contracted from Kitsaki Management Limited, based out of La Ronge.
Kitsaki offices were closed Thursday for National Aboriginal Day and could not be reached for comment.
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