Crash survivors live to tell their story
- EFN Staff
What was supposed to be an hour and a half flight from Fond du Lac Denesuline First Nation to Prince Albert turned into a living nightmare after 25 passengers miraculously survived a plane crash near Fond du lac in northern Saskatchewan.
Survivor Lyman Fern, 15, from the northern community was set to meet his family in Prince Albert to do some Christmas shopping. But shopping came to a halt. On December 13th, a West Wind Aviation plane carrying 22 passengers along with three crew members crashed shortly after take-off from the community.
Fern first felt that something was wrong after his cousin, Timothy Fern, told him to look outside their seat window and they noticed the plane tilting side to side. He said they were in the air for 15 seconds or so until it went down.
“I remember a tree just ripping right through the plane my seatbelt snapping off and I was thrown around in the plane,” said Fern. “Right when the plane went down, I looked up and and yelled ‘Oh My God!’ I thought my head was bleeding but that was just the jet fuel running down my head. I called out to Tim three times and he answered. That’s when I knew I was alive.”
Fern credits his cousin for calming him down when he went into shock and panic. After being reassured, he knew they were going to make it out of the crash alive along with the other passengers. The two cousins walked out of the crash scene but instantly heard a woman yelling for help. Fern remembered the woman’s whole face covered in blood – a moment he will never forget.
“It was like something straight out of a horror movie,” he said.
The Fern’s decided to walk east of the scene to find help but realized they were lost and unknowingly walked in circles leading back to the plane crash. Upon their return, assistance was already on scene.
“I couldn’t recognize anyone until [the assistance] ran up to me and grabbed me. That’s when I started crying,” he said. “I can’t believe we’re alive. It felt like a dream hoping [to] wake up. We made it.”
Fern called his parents who were beyond worried after they learned about the plane crash. They were in shock and in tears but happy he and the other passengers made it out alive.
Fern said the incident has affected him mentally and emotionally to the point where he’s losing hours of sleep as that frightful night replays over in his head. Fern learned after the plane crash the only chair that was missing from the plane was his seat. He felt even more grateful to survive the crash. The incident has instilled fear of flying into Fern but he hopes one day that fear will subside. But since then, Ferns has been working on bettering himself by having a positive outlook on life.
“Life shouldn’t be taken for granted especially during the most hardest times. Life can be taken away from you just like that,” Fern said. “Talking about my experience helps me.”
The plane fare one-way to Prince Albert from Fond du lac costed over $500. It is not known if flight attendees were reimbursed but Fern said money isn’t the issue for him. He’s just thankful he is alive today to tell his story.
“It’s not about the materialistic things, the money, and the clothes…it’s about your true wealth,” he said.
“I’m just thankful to be alive.”
Fern and other youth members from his community hope to start up a youth Chief and Council to serve their youth and to combat mental health issues – an idea that transpired from the plane crash.
Counselling services for the plane crash survivors have been offered soon after the incident occurred. The Transportation Safety Board was deployed to investigate the plane crash which could take up to a year to determine the cause of the incident.