The manager of Northern Thunderbird Air (NT Air) is trying to manoeuvre through the grief of the second fatal plane crash in the company's history.
Bill Hesse told The Citizen that NT Air has 60 to 70 employees based at the Prince George, Smithers and Vancouver airports (they have corporate connections to Central Mountain Air and Hawkair).
Even though pilot Luc Fortin was not stationed at their Prince George headquarters, his death on Oct. 27 still unnerved almost everyone in the operation.
"There is nobody in this company that doesn't know each other, or hasn't worked with each other," Hesse said. "They reacted as any family would in a tragedy: with shock and sadness and concern."
Counselling services were provided for all staff of NT Air, and close communications links are open between the company and the crew's families and passenger group. In addition to Fortin, the plane was also occupied by co-pilot Matt Robic and seven passengers. Although some suffered extreme injuries, all survived, including two people on the ground struck by the plane's debris, except for Fortin.
"Right now we are still really focused on the care and attention of the crew and the passengers," said Hesse. "For those of us at the company, we see that as the most important part. We are extremely grateful to those who stepped in to help."
Heroic efforts were undertaken by passersby who ran into the flames and fuel fumes at 4:12 p.m. on Russ Baker Way. They were soon aided by first responders from the City of Richmond and YVR Airport.
Premier Christie Clark and Minister of Public Safety Shirley Bond announced they would host a provincial reception to honour the survivors and lifesavers of Flight 204.
"The people who ran to the burning wreckage approached it as strangers, but their collaborative, lifesaving efforts went far beyond courageous and selfless," said Bond.
"They have emerged from this emergency a community of heroes, and we want to recognize every one of them."
"Without their quick-thinking responses, there is no doubt the tragedy of this incident would have been compounded," said Clark. "I believe many people share our belief that we should honour the civilian heroes, the plane's crew and the first responders, and we will do just that."
A date has not yet been announced.
Hesse said his 10-plane fleet was in one of its quieter periods so the crash did not cause much stress on NT Air's customers and clients. Some, he said, have accommodated the sudden upheaval in their operation, and other contingencies were enacted to ensure schedules were generally kept.
"We do have pilots and engineers who have stood down to work through their grief process and we are accommodating that and letting that happen," said Hesse. "It has allowed us to be careful about the new bookings we do, and so far it has been manageable so that essentially we are business as usual. And for a lot of people that is their process as well, to get to work and do their daily routine. For the large majority of our people, they want to do something, that is their process of managing their grief."
NT Air lost two staff members in a 2005 crash near Squamish. A pilot and passenger survived a 2001 crash of a small NT Air plane north of Prince George.
The Transportation Safety Board was contacted but did not provide a comment by press time.
