Snowbirds grounded in ‘operational pause’ as B.C. accident investigated: Air Force
Posted August 10, 2022 2:24 pm.
Last Updated August 10, 2022 3:59 pm.
WINNIPEG — The Royal Canadian Air Force has ordered an “operational pause” for its Snowbird air demonstration squadron jets after a crash earlier this month.
A statement from Maj.-Gen. Iain Huddleston, commander of 1 Canadian Air Division, says the CT-114 Tutor jets will not fly until an airworthiness risk assessment can be completed.
The decision to ground the planes comes after a crash of one of the jets on Aug. 2 at the airport in Fort St. John, B.C.
No one was hurt when the pilot made a hard landing and the Air Force says the cause of the accident remains under investigation.
The Air Force statement says a deliberate, detailed and broad risk analysis will be done with the aim of ensuring the safe resumption of the squadron’s flying operations.
It says the assessment will include whether the accident and its cause pose any risk to continued flying operations and what measures can be put in place to lower any risks.
“Given that the cause of this accident remains to be determined by the airworthiness investigative authority, I have ordered an operational pause on the CT-114 Tutor fleet as we continue the investigation and commence a thorough operational airworthiness risk assessment process,” Huddleston said in the statement Wednesday.
The nearly 60-year-old Tutor jets are scheduled to be used by the Snowbirds until 2030.
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CF Snowbirds pull out of Abbotsford Airshow after hard landing in Fort St. John
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Snowbirds aircraft makes hard landing in Fort St. John
Last week, the Snowbirds pulled out of the Abbotsford International Airshow, following the hard landing in Fort St. John.
At the time, the Department of National Defence said the aircraft used by the Snowbirds would not be flown “while a Royal Canadian Air Force flight safety team investigates to determine the cause of the incident.”
“They will be imminently starting their investigation into this incident. They have a very comprehensive means of going about these kinds of investigations. It’s a tried and tested and true methodology that the they use,” said Maj. Trevor Reid with 1 Canadian Air Division.
“Unfortunately, as a result of the incident in Fort St. John, the CT-114 Tutor aircraft — those are the aircraft that many Canadians understand and know that the Snowbirds fly — they are not being flown.”
In May, 2020, a member of the Canadian Forces Snowbirds team died in a crash in a residential area of Kamloops. Capt. Jennifer Casey was killed when the aircraft went down during the Operation Inspiration tour, which was meant to salute Canadians doing their part to fight the spread of COVID-19.
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With files from Martin MacMahon
