Northern Thunderbird Air

Northern Thunderbird Air Inc or NT Air is a Canadian charter airline and medevac service based in Prince George, British Columbia.

Northern Thunderbird Air

Beechcraft 1900 at Williams Lake Airport
IATA ICAO Call sign - NTA[1] THUNDERBIRD[1]
Founded	1971
AOC #	11492[2]
Hubs	Prince George
Secondary hubs	Smithers Vancouver
Alliance	Central Mountain Air
Fleet size	14[3]
Destinations	Charter only
Parent company	Northern Thunderbird Air Limited
Headquarters	Prince George, British Columbia, Canada
Website	http://www.ntair.ca/

History

NT Air was formed in 1971 with the merger of two of northern British Columbia's airlines: Northern Mountain Airlines and Thunderbird Airlines.

Northern Mountain Airlines began operations at Fort St. James in 1959. With a fleet consisting of Cessnas, DHC-2 Beavers, Beech 18s, Grumman Goose, and helicopters, Northern Mountain served Northern Canada including Alberta, Yukon and Northwest Territories. After merging its airplane division with Thunderbird, Northern Mountain continued operating helicopter service until 2000.^[4]

Thunderbird Airlines was formed in the early 1960s when it acquired the bush operations of Pacific Western Airlines in Prince George. From its base at Tabor Lake, Thunderbird operated Cessnas, Beavers and DHC Otters on floats and skis servicing the new town of Mackenzie and the northern villages and logging camps of Williston Lake. In the early 1970s, Thunderbird secured a subcontract from Pacific Western Airlines to service the smaller communities of B.C as a feeder airline, leading to a merger between Northern Mountain and Thunderbird Airlines in 1971 due to the need for a hanger at Prince George Airport.

Northern Thunderbird Air now consists of a fleet of 14 aircraft with three bases, 21 scheduled points and over 100 employees.^[3][5]

Sister airline

Northern Thunderbird Air is the sister airline of Central Mountain Air, utilizing their large aircraft capability and bases in British Columbia and Alberta.^[6]

Services

• British Columbia
  • Prince George
  • Prince Rupert
  • Mackenzie
  • Ospika
  • Tsay Keh
  • Fort Ware
  • Smithers
  • Dease Lake
  • Vancouver
  • Sandspit
• Alberta
  • Calgary
  • Edmonton

Fleet

As of January 2024, Northern Thunderbird Air has the following aircraft registered with Transport Canada:^[3]

Aircraft	Count	Variants	Notes
Beechcraft 1900	11	1900D	18 passengers[7]
Beechcraft Super King Air	3	300 series	Air ambulance[8]

The Northern Thunderbird Beechcraft 1900D's bear the NTA paint scheme and logo but are dual registered with sister company Central Mountain Air.

Incidents and accidents

• On 27 October 2011, a Beechcraft King Air, serial number B-36, registered C-GXRX, crashed on Russ Baker Way next to Vancouver International Airport in Richmond, British Columbia as it was attempting to make a landing, killing the pilot, 44-year-old Luc Fortin. It had departed the airport earlier but turned around due to indications of an aircraft malfunction (the engine oil pressure indicator); it crashed about 900 m (3,000 ft) short of the runway. Five of the nine passengers were seriously injured.^[9] On 16 November 2011, the co-pilot of the flight, 26-year-old Matt Robic, died as well.^[10]