Skip to main content

Canadian Forces Snowbirds grounded in wake of B.C. crash

Share

The Royal Canadian Air Force has grounded the Snowbirds aerobatic team after one of the jets suffered a hard landing last week in northern British Columbia.

Maj.-Gen. Iain Huddleston, the commander of 1 Canadian Air Division, ordered the pause on all flights of the team's CT-114 Tutor aircraft Wednesday after consulting with flight safety experts and the Department of National Defence's deputy assistant minister for materiel, according to a statement from the air force.

No one was injured in the Aug. 2 incident in Fort St. John, B.C., but the aircraft was damaged when the pilot made an emergency landing shortly after takeoff.

While the incident is still under investigation, the air force says it will conduct a separate "broad risk analysis" on the Tutor jets with the aim of getting them safely back in the air.

"The RCAF’s airworthiness system will assess whether the accident and its causes pose any risk to continued flying operations, and if so, what mitigation measures can but put in place to lower those risks," according to the statement.

The nearly 60-year-old aircraft are scheduled to be used by the Snowbirds until at least 2030.

The planes were grounded as recently as late June while the air force investigated a problem with the device that sets the timing of the aircraft's emergency ejection parachute. 

CTVNews.ca Top Stories

Hertz CEO out following electric car 'horror show'

The company, which announced in January it was selling 20,000 of the electric vehicles in its fleet, or about a third of the EVs it owned, is now replacing the CEO who helped build up that fleet, giving it the company’s fifth boss in just four years.

Stay Connected