All 14 People Unhurt In Latest Odd Collision

It's not everyday we're able to report on survivors from a midair collision... yet ANN has reported on two incidents in as many weeks with that fortuitous outcome.

And, unbelievably, here's a third story.

A de Havilland DHC-6 Twin Otter (type shown above) with 12 passengers and crew onboard came into contact with an Air Labrador cargo plane near the remote northern Labrador community of Natuashish Tuesday morning, reports The Canadian Press. Both aircraft were on approach to land when the collision occurred, though it's unclear which Twin Otter struck the other.

"It is very unusual for an airplane to be that close," said Bob Halliday, spokesman for Innu Mikun Airlines. "Our pilots reacted promptly and made a safe and uneventful landing and all the passengers deplaned safely."

The Air Labrador plane also made a safe emergency landing. No one on either Twin Otter was injured.

Philip Earle, COO for Air Labrador, said it was too soon to place all the blame for the accident on the two pilots onboard the second Twin Otter.

"This incident is rare and obviously we're doing our own internal investigation to try and determine how it happened," he said. "We're a little bit in awe at how this happened today, moreover given the fact that it was a clear day."

Even stranger was the relative lack of damage to either plane. The Innu Mikun DHC-6 suffered slight damage to its right wing... but the Air Labrador plane escaped totally unscathed, RCMP Sergeant Ren Osmond told the CP.

Natuashish is a remote community of about 680 Innu residents. It is accessible only by boat, or planes flying out of the small uncontrolled airport.

As ANN reported, all six people onboard two Cessna high wing aircraft survived when their planes collided over southwestern Colorado October 22. Ten days later, two Piper aircraft collided near Plymouth, NC... with both pilots suffering only minor injuries.

Officials with Canada's Transportation Safety Board said it's too soon to say whether the agency will investigate the Natuashish collision.

FMI: www.tsb.gc.ca/