Transportation Safety Board of Canada investigators examine wreckage from First Air flight 6560 near Resolute, Nunavut. Transportation Safety Board of Canada investigators examine wreckage from First Air flight 6560 near Resolute, Nunavut. (Transportation Safety Board of Canada)

Three fatal plane crashes between August and October left Northerners reeling this year.

A chartered Boeing 737 crashed near Resolute, Nunavut, on Aug. 20. A month later a Twin Otter flew into a Yellowknife street, and two weeks after that, a Cessna crashed near the community of Lutselk'e, N.W.T.

These and other of the North’s top news stories of the year sparked debates over issues such as search and rescue capabilities, food prices, and domestic violence.

On the lighter side, the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge stopped by Yellowknife for a visit in July, and in May, an agitated beaver wandered through Fort Smith, N.W.T., stopping traffic along the main street.

Here are the top 10 most-viewed stories on cbc.ca/north in 2011:

1. Plane crash near Resolute Bay kills 12

First Air flight 6560 crashes on approach to the Resolute airport Aug. 20. Twelve people on board the Boeing 737 are killed; three survive.

2. Yellowknife plane crash kills 2 people

An Arctic Sunwest charter flight crashes in the city’s Old Town neighbourhood on approach to landing at the airline’s float base Sept. 22. The two pilots are killed; all seven passengers aboard the Twin Otter survive.

3. Resolute Bay jet crash rescuers praised

Nunavut Premier Eva Aariak says survivors of First Air 6560 were lucky military personnel happened to be in the community for a training exercise and were minutes from the crash site.

4. Iqaluit reels over 4 family members’ deaths

People across the North express shock after Iqaluit RCMP discover the body of man at the cemetery, and the bodies of a woman and her two young children at their home.

5. Will and Kate arrive in Yellowknife

The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge start their visit in the N.W.T.

6. PHOTOS: $29 Cheez Whiz? High Arctic food costs

Photos of common staples and their prices in Arctic Bay, Nunavut, ignited debate over the new Nutrition North food shipping subsidy program.

7. Iqaluit RCMP discover 4 bodies

RCMP discover the discovery of a body of a man at the Iqaluit cemetery, and three more bodies at a house in the city.

8. Shell wants out of Mackenzie pipeline project

Shell Canada plans to pull out of the Mackenzie Valley pipeline project and sell its assets in the region, which some critics say could be a death knell for the project.

9. N.W.T. plane crash kills 2

An Air Tindi flight from Yellowknife to Lutselk'e, N.W.T., crashes 40 km west of the community Oct. 4. The pilot and a passenger are killed; two other passengers on the Cessna 208B survive.

10. Angry beaver roams through N.W.T. town

A large, agitated beaver wanders through Fort Smith, N.W.T., stopping traffic, hissing at a fenced-in German Shepherd and charging an Environment and Natural Resources officer.