Canadian military helicopter crashes in sea off Greece; 1 dead, 5 missing

Rueters ^ | 04/30/2020

[BenLurkin]

The HMCS Fredericton, participating in NATO’s Operation Reassurance meant to bolster security in Central and Eastern Europe, lost contact with a CH-148 Cyclone helicopter during a training exercise.

“The cause of this accident is unknown at this time,” Defense Minister Harjit Sajjan said. The aircraft’s data and voice recorders have been recovered, he said.

General Jonathan Vance, Chief of the Defence Staff, said there was a “very sizable debris field” in an area of the Ionian Sea where the aircraft crashed.

The crew of a C-148 Cyclone helicopter, attached to Royal Canadian Navy frigate HMCS Fredricton, which crashed in the Mediterranean Sea are seen in a combination of file photos released April 30, 2020. From top left to right are Naval Warfare Officer Sub-Lieutenant Matthew Pyke, Airborne Electronic Sensor Operator Master Corporal Matthew Cousins, Airborne Electronic Sensor Operator Maritime Systems Engineering Officer Sub-Lieutenant Abbigail Cowbrough and from bottom left to right are pilot Captain Kevin Hagen, Air Combat Systems Officer Captain Maxime Miron-Morin and pilot Captain Brenden Ian MacDonald.
Royal Canadian Navy/Handout via REUTERS.

[BenLurkin]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HMCS_Fredericton_(FFH_337)

[mylife]

Prayers

[balk]

RIP - pic top right is from our town, she was former cadet, piper.

[Red6]

That sucks.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sikorsky_CH-148_Cyclone

I’m not a navy guy - so I had to check up what sort of bird this is.

Personally, I never liked flying on helicopters and I use to a lot while in the Army.

They shake and vibrate, everything spins in circles, the power has to be bent over gear boxes, and they are all inherently unstable (they want to crash unless there are constant control inputs may that be by a pilot or a computer - you don’t have the stability like a fixed wing). Then on top of it all, they like to hang out low, and altitude is your friend when shit goes wrong. Then when they hit the ground it’s often really ugly, unlike many fixed wings that essentially become a poor glider.

Nope, don’t like helicopters, Harriers, Tilt Rotors... notice a trend here? Vertical take off and landing aircraft, all of them basically (unless it’s a balloon), aren’t known for their extraordinary safety record.

https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2002-dec-15-na-harrier15-story.html (1/3 of all Harriers ever built for the USMC have crashed, but not in wars... accidents)

https://fortune.com/2017/08/05/v22-osprey-crash-australia/

I suppose you need the capability of vertical take off and landing (like on a ship), or for medical evac, etc. So it’s the age old question of risk/cost vs. benefit. You just have to assume the risk if you really need that capability.

[balk]

Read your link and realized this was one of our brand new helicopters replacing the scandal-plagued Sea Kings.

[PghBaldy]

Sad news... R.I.P. Hope they find survivors, but not confident they will with a helicopter crash in the Sea...

[littleharbour]

The Canadian Navy is very small, and stationed at just two bases: east coast fleet in Halifax, and west coast fleet on Vancouver Island. A tight knit group that for decades has had to deal with sub standard ships and choppers. It’s unsettling that this was one of the never ones, but it seems there are frequent chopper accidents in the US military. There have also been a number of accidents with choppers used to ferry workers to offshore oil rigs. No margin for error if there is a mechanical issue.

[Red6]

Bottom line: you need to be able to take off and land vertically for various reasons but I cannot think of a single machine that does such and has an excellent safety record (unless it doesn’t get flown).

Maintenance requirements, frequency of entire fleets of aircraft being grounded for major upgrades... corroborate this idea. When I was in Alaska 1997 - early 2001 our fleet of Chinooks (CH-47s) were grounded because they were at risk of colliding with themselves. How is that possible? A planetary gear was failing which was causing the front and rear rotor to collide.

I get it, it’s a necessary capability, to take off and land vertically (SAR, ASW or landing on a smaller ship, operating in an urban environment, medical evacuation... many reasons why you need this capability). But do not fool yourself into believing that these machines are all safe because it’s 2020 and we’re so advanced, bla bla bla. I’m an electrical, not a mechanical engineer, but I’m smart enough to know that when a machine is shaking/vibrating all the time, the entire air frame is under constant torque (why you have a tail fan), when all the power is bent over 90 degree angles, you have more moving parts or points of failure, everything is spinning in circles, when this machine is inherently unstable and operating low to the ground (no time or range when things go wrong), when all the mass (power-plant, transmission etc) is above the crew, and there is a giant spinning wing above you (all of which can come down on you in a crash), things are less than “ideal.” I do not like flying on helicopters and basically all things that take off and land vertically are “scandal-plagued” if thy are used.