- Northern Thunderbird Air
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Northern Thunderbird Air 
IATA
-ICAO
NTACallsign
THUNDERBIRDFounded 1971 Hubs Prince George Secondary hubs Vancouver, Smithers Alliance Central Mountain Air Fleet size 10 Destinations Parent company Northern Thunderbird Air Limited Headquarters Prince George, British Columbia, Canada Website http://www.ntair.ca/ NT Air or Northern Thunderbird Air Inc. is a Canadian charter airline with a head office at Prince George, British Columbia and bases in Vancouver and Smithers.
Contents
History
NT Air was formed in 1971 with the amalgamation of two of northern British Columbia's Airlines - Northern Mountain and Thunderbird.
Northern Mountain began operations at Fort St. James in 1959 and by 1971 was one of the larger Airlines in British Columbia. With a mixed fleet of Cessnas, de Havilland Beavers, Beechcraft Model 18s, Grumman Goose, and helicopters; Northern Mountain had spread its wings over most of the North including Alberta, Yukon and Northwest Territories. By spinning off its airplane division to merge with Thunderbird in 1971, Northern Mountain was able to concentrate its efforts on helicopters only and did so through the year 2000.
Thunderbird started in the early sixties when it acquired the Bush Operations of Pacific Western Airlines in Prince George. From its base at Tabor Lake, Thunderbird operated Cessnas, Beavers and Otters on floats and skis servicing the new town of Mackenzie and the northern villages and logging camps of Williston Lake. In the early seventies, Thunderbird secured a subcontract from Pacific Western Airlines to service the smaller communities of B.C. to feed that traffic into PWA's jet aircraft at Prince George, Kamloops and Kelowna. The need for a hangar on the Prince George Airport to fulfill this contract was the catalyst for the merger talks that resulted in the formation of Northern Thunderbird Air in 1971.
In the 35 years since its inception NT Air has ebbed and flowed with the times. The early eighties saw the company with 18 aircraft, 3 bases, 21 scheduled points and numerous employees while the late nineties saw the company with 1 aircraft, 1 base, 2 scheduled points and 5 employees. In the ever changing world of aviation, Northern Thunderbird Air has proven its ability to adapt to new challenges whether they are economical, technical or a customer's unique requirement.
NT Air has grown to 10 aircraft, 3 bases, 7 scheduled points and 50 employees. NT Air is strategically positioned throughout British Columbia and offers a wide variety of aircraft services.
Services
- British Columbia
Fleet
The Northern Thunderbird Air fleet includes the following aircraft (as of November 2010):[1][2]
Aircraft Count Variants Notes Serial Numbers Beechcraft 1900 3 1900C 19 passengers UC-61, UC94, UC120 Beechcraft Super King Air 1 350 Air Ambulance FL-502 Beechcraft King Air 2 100 9 passengers B 36, B-210 Cessna Grand Caravan 1 208B 9 passengers 208B0541
The Northern Thunderbird website also lists the Beechcraft 1900D as part of the company's fleet, but the company has no 1900D's registered with Transport Canada, and these planes are likely registered with sister company Central Mountain Air.Incidents and accidents
- On October 27, 2011, a Beechcraft King Air, serial number B36, registered C-GXRX, crashed on Russ Baker Way next to Vancouver International Airport in Richmond, British Columbia as it was attempting to make a landing, killing the pilot, 44-year-old Luc Fortin. It had departed the airport earlier but turned around due to indications of an aircraft malfunction (the engine oil pressure indicator); it crashed about 900 metres short of the runway. Five of the nine passengers were seriously injured.[3] On November 16, 2011, the co-pilot of the fight died as well. [4]
- Two pilots died in 2005 when a twin-engined Northern Thunderbird King Air 200 crashed near Squamish when the plane was transitioning from Vancouver to Prince George. The pilot flew up a valley and was in a steep climb trying to avoid terrain when the plane crashed.
- In 2001, a Northern Thunderbird single-engine Cessna 185 crashed north of Prince George while under government charter to do a wildlife survey. The pilot and passenger survived.[5]
References
- ^ Northern Thunderbird Air: Fleet Retrieved on 2 November 2010
- ^ Transport Canada: Canadian Civil Aircraft Register Retrieved on 2 November 2010
- ^ "Richmond plane crash leaves pilot dead". CBC News. http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/story/2011/10/28/bc-vancouver-plane-crash-injured.html. Retrieved 28 October 2011.
- ^ "Global BC Twitter". Global BC. https://twitter.com/globalbc/status/137062379585409024. Retrieved 16 November 2011.
- ^ "North Van man identified as pilot killed in crash; co-pilot badly burned". The Vancouver Sun. http://www.vancouversun.com/news/North+identified+pilot+killed+crash+pilot+badly+burned/5624937/story.html. Retrieved 28 October 2011.
External links
Lists relating to aviation General Aircraft (manufacturers) · Aircraft engines (manufacturers) · Airlines (defunct) · Airports · Civil authorities · Museums · Registration prefixes · Rotorcraft (manufacturers) · TimelineMilitary Accidents/incidents Records Categories:- Regional airlines of British Columbia
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