Fuelling flights in freezing conditions

Title:  Shell Aviation works with Summit Air to refuel planes in -45⁰C

Duration: 3:12 minutes

Description:

Various people talk about working for Summit Air in the far North in Yellowknife.

[Background music plays]

Slow paced string music.

 [Video footage]

Sign showing Welcome to Yellowknife. There is snow on branches of surrounding trees. Shot zooms in to show closer view of sign. There is a drawing of a knife underneath the word Yellowknife. Aerial view of forest with cloudy sky above.  View changes to show two people walking through the snow. One is wearing a bright red coat. A man wearing heavy coat and hat, walking his dog who also wears a fur lined coat.

[Title]

Director of Flight Operations, Summit Air

[Chuck Depew]

It takes a certain type of individual who’s going to push themselves to come to the far North of Yellowknife, right, it’s not for everyone. But because of that the person will have to have a certain sense of adventure and it tends to create a like-minded group of people up here, but also very welcoming and open and a brilliant sense of community.

[Video footage]

Chuck sits in aircraft hangar, facing camera, talking about living in Yellowknife. An airplane with SUMMIT AIR on side is behind him. Zooms in to show close-up of Chuck talking. View of static airplane statue with thick layer of snow on top. There are snow covered buildings in the background and traffic on road.

[Chuck Depew]

Summit as we started there was probably about ten of us that had just a few little airplanes and a really tight-knit group of people and has been phenomenal. Now, I think we’re up to 120, 115 employees and it’s been an adventure for sure.

[Video footage]

Airplanes in aircraft hangar. A white plane has SUMMIT AIR side in black. Another blue airplane can be seen. A man stands looking at airplane parts. A worker bending over airplane nose making some adjustments with tool. Close-up of another man pointing to place on airplane. A large orange truck with scoop on front drives down runway. There is machinery attached to the back of truck.

[Title]

Fixed Base Operator, Det’onCho

[Stu Impett]

When you’re working in minus 40 vehicles and everything becomes much more challenging. Everything slows down.

[Video footage]

Stu sitting in aircraft hangar, facing camera and talking about the weather conditions and how the temperature affects what they do.

[Chuck Depew]

The area that we service is just massive and we’re flying in everything from people into mine sites and all the mine site requirements and equipment to Christmas trees at Christmas. And we just flew in all the grocery requirements for Eureka weather station that’s measuring the ozone layers etc up in the high arctic. We need to have reliable fuel, especially for the areas and the remote areas that we’re operating in, but we don’t have many places to divert to, we don’t have lots of different options. So, when we depart for a location we have to know we’re going to get there and having quality fuel is essential.

[Video footage]

Aerial view of snow covered forest. Large banks of snow on the ground. Side view of airplane with SUMMIT on side. The camera pans around to show 360 ˚ view of plane. Men in brightly coloured coveralls are loading goods onto the plane. Exterior view of aircraft hangars surrounded by snow. A Shell tanker drive slowly past. Long view from above of Shell tanker. Shell in red is on side of truck. And airplane stands next to it.  A man in brightly coloured coverall refuels the airplane.

[Chuck Depew]

Shell fuel providers here understand what we’re trying to do and the limitations and the restrictions that we’re operating under. For example, we had to fly a SWAT team to… it was a hostage situation up in the high arctic, so the RCP needs to get their SWAT team off and that happens in the middle of the night. And instantly Shell is there to provide the fuel.

[Video footage]

A man walks between plane and Shell truck holding a fuel hose. Chuck sits inside hangar, facing camera, talking about the importance of Shell fuel to them. A white airplane is behind him. A man stands at side of plane. Two workers in brightly coloured coveralls walk behind him. The orange Shell truck can be seen at the rear. An airplane can be seen in profile at dusk.

[Stu Impett]

Shell’s number one priority for safety helps us in many other areas. Our clients see us working with Shell and held to their high safety standards and they trust us with all of their other products because they know that we’re held to that standard.

[Video footage]

A man in coloured coveralls walks toward Orange truck. Det’onCho sign is on side of truck. Exterior view of aircraft hangar with airplanes inside. The hangar doors are being rolled to close. A man carrying fuel hose.

[Chuck Depew]

The extreme weather conditions are day to day. It’s not plus five and a beautiful sunny day here. It’s minus 45, it’s 30 knot wind and it’s absolutely miserable outside. The fuel truck is there, the fuel man is there within minutes of when we call them, whether it be two in the morning or whether it be two in the afternoon. That’s the support you need to make sure that we can provide the service to all the communities in all the locations, whether it be for food or passengers or hockey teams or SWAT teams. You name it, you need to have that support to make all this happen. Chuck

[Video footage]

Chuck sits inside aircraft hangar, facing camera and talking about extreme weather conditions. A white airplane behind. Outside a man is walking towards plane, a strong wind blowing snow. The man refuels plane. Long view of airplane taking off. The background is snow covered. An airplane taxis down a snow covered runway.

[Audio]

Shell jingle

[Graphic]

Shell Pecten centred on a white background. Shell Aviation