West Wind Aviation cleared to fly again after deadly crash

About four-and-a-half months since one of its planes was involved in a deadly crash in northern Saskatchewan, West Wind Aviation is being allowed to resume flying.

The federal Transportation Safety Board (TSB) issued a release Tuesday saying the company’s operating certificate was being  reinstated.

One of West Wind’s ATR 42-320 aircraft went down on Dec. 13, 2017 shortly after taking off from the Fond-du-Lac airstrip.

Many among the 22 passengers and three crew members on board were hurt.

Arson Jr. Fern, 19, was taken to hospital in Saskatoon from the crash scene, he later died of his injuries.

West Wind’s planes were grounded on Dec. 22, 2017.

At the time, the TSB said it had found problems with the company’s operational control system, used to make sure the company’s day-to-day actions were in line with safety requirements for things like dispatching personnel and aircraft.

On Tuesday, the TSB announced West Wind had corrected those issues and would once again be allowed to operate as a commercial airline.

The Dec. 13 crash remains under investigation.

A previous report from the TSB said the plane wasn’t de-iced before takeoff, but it was still too early to say whether this had caused the crash.