Page 20 - InterPilot2019Issue2
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Critical Incident
Response Programs
BY CAPTAIN MURRAY MUNRO
On August 20, 2011 at approximately 12:40 pm, First
Air flight 6560 ended in a Controlled Flight Into Terrain
(CFIT) accident. The flight was a charter, originating in
Yellowknife (Northwest Territories of Canada) and des-
tined for Resolute Bay (Nunavut, Canada). The weather
that day was poor, with low ceilings, and poor visibility
resulting in a heavier than normal workload for the crew
of the Boeing 737-210.
The flight was mostly cargo, operating with 4 crew and
11 passengers on board. When first responders arrived
they found 3 surviving passengers, the rest had been
killed on impact.
In a strange twist, the crew operating flight 6560 were
to assist the Canadian Military the following day in op-
eration Nanook 2011. Operation Nanook was a military
exercise to simulate an actual aircraft accident in the
remote Canadian north. It had sadly become a real-life
Captain Murray Munro has been a peer sup- situation.
port volunteer for nearly 30 years. He is Pilot
Assistance Chair for ALPA Canada and has After receiving the news, ALPA Canada had a Critical In-
coordinated CIRP response for all major ac- cident Response team assembled and en route within
cidents in Canada for the past 15 years. He hours. This team provided assistance at the accident site,
also Coordinates CIRP training for Canada Resolute Bay, and home base for the crew in Yellowknife.
and internationally. Murray is a Captain on
the Dash-8 Q400 for Jazz Aviation LP. The Critical Incident Response Program (CIRP) team
spent over a week with the First Air crew and staff per-
forming such tasks as having a pilot peer accompany the
pilots flying management personnel to Resolute Bay and
debriefing the accident investigators daily.
The team was available to debrief surviving crew, friends,
and loved ones left behind in Yellowknife. In some cases,
team members even escorted crew members home when
their spouse had perished in the accident. The team was
basically there for anything they needed.
First Air provided the CIRP team with space to be able
to sit with fellow pilots and their families in a private and
confidential setting to discuss how they were feeling
about the events surrounding the accident.
