Inuvik to Ulukhaktok, Northwest Territories
Well….kinda….
Four of us piled into an airport shuttle van this morning for our flight to Ulukhaktok.
Besides me there was an elder from the community and two athletes on their way back from the Arctic Winter Games.
We checked in for our 11:30 flight than went off to wait in the Inuvik airport cafeteria.
At around 11h00 someone called out for Ulukhaktok passengers to come up to the counter. We were told that th flight was cancelled.
‘Why?’ asked one of the edlers on the flight.
‘The pilot’s sick,’ was the answer.
The exchange that followed was a classic one and one that could only happen in the North.
Passenger: “Well get another pilot!”
Ticket agent: “We can’t, he’s the only one that knows how to pilot that kind of plane…”
Passenger: “Well use another plane?”
Ticket agent: “We can’t. The other plane is broken.
Passenger: “Well, go fix it.”
Ticket agent: “We can’t…we’re waiting for a part from Calgary.”
and so the morning went….
We’ve been trundled back to our hotels, were called in the afternooon and told to come back to the airport tomorrow morning and try again.
Wish me luck!
Write to Eilís Quinn at eilis.quinn(at)cbc.ca