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Northern Thunderbird Air

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Northern Thunderbird Air
Beechcraft 1900 at Williams Lake Airport
IATA ICAO Call sign
- NTA[1] THUNDERBIRD[1]
Founded1971
AOC #11492[2]
HubsPrince George
Secondary hubsVancouver, Smithers
AllianceCentral Mountain Air
Fleet size16[3]
DestinationsCharter only
Parent companyNorthern Thunderbird Air Limited
HeadquartersPrince George, British Columbia, Canada
Websitehttp://www.ntair.ca/

Northern Thunderbird Air Inc or NT Air is a Canadian charter airline and medevac service based in Prince George, British Columbia.

History

NT Air was formed in 1971 with the amalgamation of two of northern British Columbia's airlines: Northern Mountain Airlines and Thunderbird Airlines.

Northern Mountain Airlines began operations at Fort St. James in 1959. By 1971, they were one of the larger airlines in British Columbia. With a mixed fleet of Cessnas, DHC-2 Beavers, Beech 18s, Grumman Goose, and helicopters; Northern Mountain served Northern Canada 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 2000.[4]

Thunderbird Airlines started in the early 1960s when it acquired the bush operations of Pacific Western Airlines in Prince George. From its base at Tabor Lake, Thunderbird operated Cessnas, Beavers and DHC Otters on floats and skis servicing the new town of Mackenzie and the northern villages and logging camps of Williston Lake. In the early 1970s, 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.

Since its inception, Northern Thunderbird Air has adapted with the times and economic cycles with a fleet of 18 aircraft, three bases, 21 scheduled points and over 100 employees.

Sister airline

Northern Thunderbird Air is the sister airline of Central Mountain Air, utilizing their large aircraft capability and bases in British Columbia and Alberta.[5]

Services

Fleet

As of November 2022, Northern Thunderbird Air has the following aircraft registered with Transport Canada:[3]

Aircraft Count Variants Notes
Beechcraft 1900 13 1900D 18 passengers[6]
Beechcraft Super King Air 3 300 series Air ambulance[7]

The Northern Thunderbird Beechcraft 1900D's bear the NTA paint scheme and logo but are dual registered with sister company Central Mountain Air.

Incidents and accidents

  • On October 27, 2011, a Beechcraft King Air, serial number B-36, 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.[8] On November 16, 2011, the co-pilot of the flight, 26-year-old Matt Robic, died as well.[9]
  • Two pilots died in 2005 when a twin-engined Northern Thunderbird King Air 200 (BB-190, C-FCGL) 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.[10]

References

  1. ^ a b "ICAO Designators for Canadian Aircraft Operating Agencies, Aeronautical Authorities and Services" (PDF). Nav Canada. 2023-05-04. p. 5. Retrieved 2023-02-26. Northern Thunderbird Air: NTA, THUNDERBIRD
  2. ^ Transport Canada (2019-09-02), Civil Aviation Services (CAS) AOC. wwwapps.tc.gc.ca.
  3. ^ a b "Canadian Civil Aircraft Register: Quick Search Result for Northern Thunderbird Air". Transport Canada. Retrieved 27 November 2022.
  4. ^ "Northern Mountain Airlines". Airline History. Retrieved 11 October 2020.
  5. ^ "Charter | Flight Information | NT Air". www.ntair.ca. Retrieved 2020-12-10.
  6. ^ Beechcraft 1900D
  7. ^ Beechcraft King Air 350: MEDEVAC Operations
  8. ^ "Richmond plane crash leaves pilot dead". CBC News. 28 October 2011. Retrieved 28 October 2011.
  9. ^ "Global BC Twitter". Global BC. Retrieved 16 November 2011.
  10. ^ "North Van man identified as pilot killed in crash; co-pilot badly burned". The Vancouver Sun. Retrieved 28 October 2011.
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