â–º Listen Live
â–º Listen Live
â–º Listen Live

CAF says April 29th Cyclone crash was “unavoidable”

Today the Canadian Armed Forces (CAF) officially lifted the operational pause on CH148 Cyclone helicopters.

The pause was placed as a precautionary measure following the April 29th incident in the Ionian Sea that claimed the lives of six members of the CAF.

Lieutenant-General Alain Pelletier, Commander of 1 Canadian Air Division says flying operations for the CH148 cyclone fleet will resume in the coming days.

He was joined with Col. John Alexander, Flight Safety and Airworthiness Investigative Authority and Brig-Gen. Nancy Tremblay, Aerospace Equipment Program Management, representing the Validation Authority within the CAF. Collectively these three members assess and ultimately decide whether Canada’s military aircrafts are fit to fly.

According to Col. John Alexander, during the cyclone’s return to aircraft procedure, in its final manoeuvring turn to land on the ship, the aircraft did not respond as the crew would have expected.

This means the crew was subjected to a sort of nose-dive for which they would have had no previous experience nor exposure prior to this event on how to handle the situation.

He says the accident was unavoidable based on their low altitude as well as the lack of time the crew had to realize that the aircraft was not responding to their inputs.

Col. Alexander says now that the CAF understands what has happened, the flight safety investigation will focus on the why.

He says their focus will be on the analysis of these aircraft systems and the human factors that go behind everything related to identify those preventative measures.

Col. Alexander says because of its complex nature, the investigation will take many months to identify and appreciate all the potential active and latent factors before the CAF can make its final recommendations in the form of the flight safety investigation report.

Something going on in the Cariboo you think people should know about?
Send us a news tip by emailing [email protected].

Continue Reading

ckbx Now playing play

cffm Now playing play

ckcq Now playing play

- Advertisement -

Related Articles

- Advertisement -

Latest News

Williams Lake City Council Supporting Pickleball While Looking for Court Location Ideas

The Williams Lake City Council will be looking into recommendations for locations to build a Pickleball court in the community. The Council reiterates its support to the Williams Lake Pickleball Club in finding a space for the Club to 'call a home."

Cariboo Regional District Board approves security fencing installation recommendation

Sections of the Cariboo Regional District's office in Williams Lake will look a little different in the near future.

100 Mile RCMP Investigating Mailbox Break-Ins

The 100 Mile House RCMP have received reports of mailboxes being broken into at the 4000 block of Telqua Drive near the 108 Mile Golf Resort. RCMP says Canada Post has been notified and is aware of the incidents that have been reported over the last few weeks.

The 2025 Quesnel Ambassadors Have Been Crowned

The 2025 Quesnel Ambassadors were crowned and announced in a ceremony on July 12th. The ceremony also thanked last year's Quesnel Ambassadors for their time representing Quesnel's Youth throughout the year.

B.C’s youth watchdog says more work needs to be done, one year after report on systemic failures

One year after a report by British Columbia's Child and Youth Representative on the horrific death of an Indigenous boy in care, the province is still working on an action plan for systemic changes to children and youth social services.
- Advertisement -