A jet crash in the Northwest Territories killed four passengers and two crew members on its way to Rio Tinto‘s (NYSE: RIO; LSE: RIO; ASX: RIO) Diavik diamond mine, officials said on Wednesday. One person survived.
The 19-seat aircraft went down near Fort Smith on the Alberta border Tuesday morning. The plane had just taken off from the town about 740 km south of Yellowknife.
The survivor was taken to health facility in Fort Smith before being airlifted to a hospital in Yellowknife, the territory’s coroner’s office said.
“I would like to extend our deepest sympathy to the families, friends and loved ones of those who have been affected by this tragedy,” Rio Tinto CEO Jakob Stausholm said in a release. “As a company we are absolutely devastated by this news and offering our full support to our people and the community who are grieving today.”
The plane was a British Aerospace Jetstream registered to Northwestern Air Lease, according to the Transportation Safety Board of Canada. The board is sending investigators to the crash site.
“We are working closely with authorities and will help in any way we can with their efforts to find out exactly what has happened,” Rio Tinto’s Stausholm said.
Rio Tinto has been running Diavik, located about 300 km northeast of Yellowknife, since it began output in 2003. It’s one of Canada’s largest diamond mines and employs over 1,100 workers. The mine produces 3.5 to 4.5 million carats of rough diamonds a year, the company says. It expects commercial production to end in early 2026.
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