171817 Canada Inc operating as Arctic Sunwest Charters is a charter airline based in Yellowknife, Northwest Territories

Northwest Territories

The Northwest Territories is a federal territory of Canada.Located in northern Canada, the territory borders Canada's two other territories, Yukon to the west and Nunavut to the east, and three provinces: British Columbia to the southwest, and Alberta and Saskatchewan to the south...

, Canada

Canada

Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...

. It operates passenger and cargo charter services to Arctic

Arctic

The Arctic is a region located at the northern-most part of the Earth. The Arctic consists of the Arctic Ocean and parts of Canada, Russia, Greenland, the United States, Norway, Sweden, Finland, and Iceland. The Arctic region consists of a vast, ice-covered ocean, surrounded by treeless permafrost...

 Canada, with wheel, ski and float equipped aircraft. Its main base is Yellowknife Airport

Yellowknife Airport

Yellowknife Airport is located in Yellowknife, Northwest Territories, Canada. The airport is part of the National Airports System, and is operated by the government of the Northwest Territories. The airport has regular scheduled passenger service, and is also used as a forward operating base for...

 and also operates a float base on Great Slave Lake

Great Slave Lake

Great Slave Lake is the second-largest lake in the Northwest Territories of Canada , the deepest lake in North America at , and the ninth-largest lake in the world. It is long and wide. It covers an area of in the southern part of the territory. Its given volume ranges from to and up to ...

 near the Yellowknife Water Aerodrome

Yellowknife Water Aerodrome

Yellowknife Water Aerodrome , is adjacent to the "old town" section of Yellowknife, Northwest Territories, Canada on both Back Bay and East Bay of Great Slave Lake. It's open from the middle of June until October and may be used by ski equipped aircraft in the winter....

.

History

The airline was established in 1993 and was created from the Aviation Division of RTL-Robinson Enterprises.

Maintenance

The company is certified by Transport Canada

Transport Canada

Transport Canada is the department within the government of Canada which is responsible for developing regulations, policies and services of transportation in Canada. It is part of the Transportation, Infrastructure and Communities portfolio...

 as an Approved Maintenance Organization with aircraft maintenance engineers

Aircraft maintenance engineer (Canada)

In Canada an aircraft maintenance engineer is a person who is Transport Canada licensed to sign the maintenance release for certified aircraft returning the aircraft to service....

. They have 52000 ft2 of hangar

Hangar

A hangar is a closed structure to hold aircraft or spacecraft in protective storage. Most hangars are built of metal, but other materials such as wood and concrete are also sometimes used...

 space available and provide maintenance services to other airlines.

Destinations

As of March 2011 Arctic Sunwest operates one scheduled route in the NWT:

• Wekweeti (Wekweètì Airport
  Wekweètì Airport
  Wekweètì Airport , is located east of Wekweètì, Northwest Territories, Canada.-Airlines and destinations:...
  
  )

Fleet

The Arctic Sunwest Charters fleet consists of the following aircraft (at March 2011)

Arctic Sunwest Fleet

Aircraft	No. of Aircraft	Variants	Idents	Notes
Beechcraft Model 99 Beechcraft Model 99 |-See also:-External links:*...	1		GASW	14 passengers
Beechcraft King Air Beechcraft King Air The Beechcraft King Air family is part of a line of twin-turboprop aircraft produced by the Beech Aircraft Corporation...	1	100 series	FASN	8 passengers
de Havilland Canada DHC-2 Beaver De Havilland Canada DHC-2 Beaver The de Havilland Canada DHC-2 Beaver is a single-engined, high-wing, propeller-driven, STOL aircraft developed by de Havilland Canada, primarily known as a bush plane. It is used for cargo and passenger hauling, aerial application , and has been widely adopted by armed forces as a utility aircraft...	2	DHC-2 MK. III	FOEV, FOPE	8 passengers, skis, amphibious Amphibious aircraft An amphibious aircraft or amphibian is an aircraft that can take off and land on either land or water. Fixed-wing amphibious aircraft are seaplanes that are equipped with retractable wheels, at the expense of extra weight and complexity, plus diminished range and fuel economy compared to planes...
de Havilland Canada DHC-5 Buffalo De Havilland Canada DHC-5 Buffalo The de Havilland Canada DHC-5 Buffalo is a short takeoff and landing utility transport, a turboprop aircraft developed from the earlier piston-powered DHC-4 Caribou...	2	DHC-5A	FASV, FASY	Cargo up to 18000 lb (8,164.7 kg), the only civil Buffalo aircraft operating in Canada
de Havilland Canada DHC-6 Twin Otter De Havilland Canada DHC-6 Twin Otter The DHC-6 Twin Otter is a Canadian 19-passenger STOL utility aircraft developed by de Havilland Canada and currently produced by Viking Air. The aircraft's fixed tricycle undercarriage, STOL abilities and high rate of climb have made it a successful cargo, regional passenger airliner and MEDEVAC...	4	100 series, 300 series	FASQ, FTFX, FTXQ	Combi Combi In commercial aviation, the term combi refers to versions of various aircraft that can be used for either passenger, as an airliner would, or cargo duties, as a freighter would, and often have a partition in the aircraft cabin to allow both uses at once... , 19 passengers or 3300 lb (1,496.9 kg), floats Floatplane A floatplane is a type of seaplane, with slender pontoons mounted under the fuselage; only the floats of a floatplane normally come into contact with water, with the fuselage remaining above water... , skis, tundra tire Tundra tire A tundra tire is a large low-pressure tire used on light aircraft to allow operations on rough terrain.-History:The tundra style tire has been independently invented at different times and places... s
de Havilland Canada Dash 8	2	DHC-8-102	FASC, GASB	Combi, 37 passengers or 7428 lb (3,369.3 kg)
Piper PA-31 Navajo Piper PA-31 Navajo The Piper PA-31 Navajo is a family of cabin-class, twin-engine aircraft designed and built by Piper Aircraft for the general aviation market, most using Lycoming engines. It was also licence-built in a number of Latin American countries. Targeted at small-scale cargo and feeder liner operations and...	2	PA-31-350	FKCL, FSWN	8 passengers

Accidents and incidents

On 22 September 2011, a float equipped Arctic Sunwest Twin Otter, that had been charted by Avalon Rare Metals

Avalon Rare Metals

Avalon Rare Metals Inc. is a mineral exploration and development company focused on rare metal deposits in Canada. Its flagship project, the 100%-owned Nechalacho Deposit, Thor Lake, Northwest Territories, is emerging as one of the largest undeveloped rare earth elements resources in the world...

, crashed while landing at Yellowknife Water Aerodrome. The Twin Otter, GARW pictured right, was inbound from Thor Lake

Thor Lake

Thor Lake is a deposit of rare metals located in the Blachford Lake intrusive complex. It is situated 5 km north of the Hearne Channel of Great Slave Lake, Northwest Territories, Canada, approximately 100 kilometers east-southeast of the capital city of Yellowknife...

and carried seven passengers and two crew. All seven of the passengers were injured and both pilots were killed.

External links

• Arctic Sunwest Charters