First Air Flight 6560
Wreckage of the aircraft | |
| Accident | |
|---|---|
| Date | 20 August 2011 |
| Summary | Pilot error combined with inaccurate compass readings, leading to controlled flight into terrain |
| Site |
|
| Aircraft | |
| C-GNWN, the aircraft involved in the accident, seen in February 2011 | |
| Aircraft type | Boeing 737-210C |
| Operator | First Air |
| IATA flight No. | 7F6560 |
| ICAO flight No. | FAB6560 |
| Call sign | FIRST AIR 6560 |
| Registration | C-GNWN |
| Flight origin | Yellowknife Airport, Yellowknife, Northwest Territories, Canada |
| Destination | Resolute Bay Airport, Resolute, Nunavut, Canada |
| Occupants | 15 |
| Passengers | 11 |
| Crew | 4 |
| Fatalities | 12 |
| Injuries | 3 |
| Survivors | 3 |
First Air Flight 6560 was a domestic charter flight that crashed on landing at Resolute, Nunavut, Canada, on 20 August 2011. Of the fifteen people on board, twelve were killed and the remaining three were severely injured. The Boeing 737-200 of First Air was operating a service from Yellowknife, Northwest Territories, when it struck a hill obscured by clouds near Resolute Bay Airport.
The subsequent investigation found that a late initiation of the descent, the inadvertent partial disengagement of the autopilot during final approach, a drift in the aircraft compass system and poor communication between the flight crew resulted in the aircraft drifting significantly off course from the final approach path, descending into the ground moments after the crew initiated a go-around.