Fuel problem wreaks havoc with Inuvik flights

Passengers warned of possible plane delays or cancellations

Last Updated: Friday, August 3, 2007 | 10:55 AM ET

CBC News

Some flights in Inuvik, N.W.T., are being cancelled or delayed Friday because of a mysterious problem making the local airport's supply of jet fuel unusable.

A local airline is warning passengers on flights in the Beaufort Delta to expect delays as a result of the sudden fuel shortage. Flights from Yellowknife and Whitehorse likely will not be affected because planes can fill their tanks in Norman Wells, N.W.T., and Dawson, Yukon.

Inuvik, N.W.T.
(CBC)

"It's just a scheduling nightmare," Aklak Air operator Sean Gray told CBC News on Thursday. Gray's airline flies from Inuvik to Sachs Harbour, Ulukhaktuk, Tuktoyaktuk and Paulatuk.

"Your schedule gets backed up, as well as your cargo, as well as your passengers."

Gray said there is an emergency fuel supply for medivac airplanes, but most of his planes will be grounded Friday until more fuel arrives, as early as the evening.

Calgary-based Imperial Oil's shipment of one million litres of jet fuel had passed quality tests before it was shipped from Hay River, N.W.T., up the Mackenzie River to Inuvik. But by the time the fuel reached Inuvik, tests found it contained too much moisture.

"At this point, we simply don't know what caused this particular characteristic of the fuel to go 'off-spec,'" company spokesman Pius Rolheiser said. "We're actively assessing, testing and trying to understand that."

Rolheiser said Imperial Oil is now filtering the fuel in Inuvik, in hopes that doing so will solve the problem. The company is also sending three trucks of fuel to Inuvik. That shipment could arrive as early as Friday evening.