YELLOWKNIFE — One of the pilots killed in a dramatic plane crash on a Yellowknife street is being remembered as a vivacious and adventurous young woman — a military reservist who was the third generation in a family of aviators.
“It’s part of her life, really, to fly,” Nicole Stacey’s uncle, Greg Stacey, said Friday.
The young woman, who was 26, and her 36-year-old fellow pilot Trevor Jonasson were killed Thursday when their float-equipped Twin Otter plane crashed during an attempt to land on Great Slave Lake. The aircraft slid between two buildings in the northern capital’s Old Town area.
Seven passengers were injured, two seriously.
Stacey is survived by her parents, two brothers and a sister. Jonasson and his wife had no children.
Stacey’s family is full of pilots, said her uncle. Her father, Frank, is a pilot, as is one of her cousins. Her grandfather took out a pilot’s licence at age 65, although he no longer flies.
She was even part of Prince William and Kate’s tour of the North earlier this year, though she didn’t fly the royals themselves.
Stacey’s childhood was spent in the North.
“She grew up there and she’s got a lot of family there,” Greg Stacey said. “It’s basically home.” She was “a bright, adventurous girl,” who was in the army reserves all through high school.
Aaliyah Adam met her friend Nicole in Grade 6 in Yellowknife and the two stayed close.
“She was always interested in what her dad was doing — she thought he was the coolest guy for being a pilot. She really looked up to him for that,” said Adam.
It was no surprise to Adam when her friend decided she wanted to fly, too.
“She was always full of adventure. Everything she did revolved around adventure. She was just so full of life it was natural for her to do something so daring and adventurous.”
Stacey brought the same attitude to everything, including the sports of soccer and basketball.
“She just made it her game in some way,” said Adam. “She brought such an energy to whatever she was doing.
“She was kind of a tomboy, but the prettiest girl with the nicest smile.
“She was such a happy person, you always wanted to be around her. Everyone was drawn to her — there wasn’t one group of people in Yellowknife that she wasn’t friends with.
“I always remember her smile and her laugh. She had this kind of cackle that just infected everyone.”
Stacey had reached the rank of master corporal in the military. She was serving as a recruit instructor with Yellowknife Company, a reserve unit within 41 Canadian Brigade Group and the first such unit the army has ever established in the North.
N.W.T. Premier Floyd Roland said Friday the prayers and thoughts of all territorial residents are with the friends and family of the dead and the injured.
“Amidst the history, romance and adventure of our trademark bush pilots and planes, it is so easy to forget the danger and risks that are inherent in this vital northern industry,” Roland said in a news release.
“It is a tribute to the men and women that fly these planes daily that reminders such as (Thursday’s) events are, in fact, rare and therefore so devastating when they occur.”