Ten people were rescued Thursday after a small plane crashed in a remote area of the NWT and they were stranded overnight.

David Lavallee, a spokesman with 1 Canadian Air Division and Canadian Norad Region Headquarters, said everyone was picked up from the crash site and taken to the nearby Diavik diamond mine. Some were injured, but the extent of those injuries was not known at the time of publication.

The Joint Rescue Coordination Centre Trenton started the search-and-rescue operation Wednesday, after the Air Tindi Otter aircraft crashed about 16 kilometres southeast of the mine.

Air Tindi president Chris Reynolds said three helicopters were sent to the scene at first light. Those rescued were later to be taken to Yellowknife.

Reynolds said the plane, which had two pilots and eight passengers on a private charter, went down just before it was set to land Wednesday afternoon.

SA国际影视传媒淚t appears to have had an accident right beside its intended destination, which was a frozen lake,SA国际影视传媒� he said.

SA国际影视传媒淭he aircraft was supposed to be landing there, and we got a message on our satellite tracking that there was an emergency that the pilots would have activated.SA国际影视传媒�

Reynolds said it was cold and windy in the area, about 300 kilometres northeast of Yellowknife, which hampered an immediate rescue.

A Royal Canadian Air Force CC-130H Hercules search-and-rescue aircraft was dispatched to the site from 17 Wing Winnipeg. It arrived Wednesday night.

SA国际影视传媒淚t was very challenging conditions SA国际影视传媒� 70 km/h winds SA国际影视传媒� and they circled over top for quite a while before three search-and-rescue technicians parachuted into the site. From there, they updated every two hours throughout the night with passenger and flight crew condition,SA国际影视传媒� said Reynolds, noting temperatures dropped to about -15 C.

SA国际影视传媒淭hey had heated tents that were set up fairly well to wait for first light.SA国际影视传媒�

Lavallee said Royal Canadian Air Force search-and rescue technicians are highly trained first response and survival experts.

SA国际影视传媒淭hey were able to assess the 10 people on the ground, provide initial medical care, and build shelter to await extraction,SA国际影视传媒� he said in an email.

Six people had minor injuries, while two had moderate to serious injuries but were showing signs of improvement.

Reynolds said Air Tindi would work with the Transportation Safety Board to determine what caused the crash.

The safety board said it would be deploying an investigation team to the site.

SA国际影视传媒擝y Colette Derworiz, the Canadian Press, with files from Maan Alhmidi