LUTSEL K'E, N.W.T. — The two passengers who survived Tuesday's plane crash in the North are recovering in an Edmonton hospital.

Plane owner Air Tindi says the pair are in stable condition.

The pilot and another passenger died when a Cessna travelling from Yellowknife to the remote community of Lutsel K'e crashed on a narrow peninsula on Great Slave Lake.

RCMP say the plane was 25 kilometres from its destination when the pilot decided to turn around in rainy but calm weather.

An official with the Lutsel K'e band has named the injured as residents Sheldon Catholique and Bernice Marlowe.

The names of the two who died have not been released.

Premier Floyd Roland expressed condolences to the injured and the relatives of the dead.

"In a summer when one tragic plane crash was too much, we have had three ... there are no words that can begin to express the devastation that we feel as a territory," he said Wednesday in a news release.

Roland also thanked the rescuers and volunteers who helped bring the two survivors out and also said his thoughts and prayers were with the employees of the northern airline industry "whose lives must begin again today without friend and colleague."

On Aug. 20, a First Air Boeing 737 crashed near Resolute, Nunavut, killing 12 and injuring three.

Two pilots died on Sept. 22 in the crash of a Twin Otter in Yellowknife's Old Town neighbourhood. Seven were injured.

"Our northern community has truly been tested this summer. We take some solace in the knowledge that it is through the faith and courage found in these times of tragedy that we strengthen the determination and resilience that personifies our northern spirit," Roland said.