Nelson city councillor Margaret Stacey’s niece, Master Cpl. Nicole Stacey, was one of two victims in the Twin Otter float plane crash last Thursday in the Northwest Territories.
Nicole, 26, and Trevor Jonasson, 36, died after the float plane clipped power lines, struck the side of a building, and slammed into a vacant lot between two buildings in Yellowknife.
Margaret said she had lived with her family in Nelson and went to LV Rogers high school for a semester when she was 16 years old.
Nicole was originally from Inuvik, but grew up in Yellowknife. She was a reserve soldier with the Canadian Forces’ Yellowknife Company.
Seven passengers were injured in the crash. Two were flown to Edmonton for treatment. No one on the street was seriously hurt, but some people nearby were struck with debris.
The plane was chartered by mineral exploration and development company, Avalon Rare Metals.
There were three of the company’s employees aboard the plane, as well as a photographer from Up Here magazine.
The plane was returning from an exploration site near Thor Lake. It intended to land at Yellowknife Bay, where float planes take off and land.
Investigators with the Transportation Safety Board will be looking into the cause of the crash.