A software glitch caused the Cyclone helicopter’s three flight control computers to momentarily shut down while the aircraft was being introduced to the RCAF in 2017. A defence expert says the issue deserves to be revisited following last month’s fatal crash in the Ionian Sea.
The CH-148 Cyclone helicopter has what the air force calls a “triple redundant” flight control system — and during a 2017 training mission off Nova Scotia, all three of those computers momentarily failed at once.
It was a major software glitch, alarming enough to ground the fleet for nine weeks.
At the time, the military described the incident publicly as a “severe bump” which reset the controls and caused the aircraft to briefly and suddenly lose altitude. The pilot managed to recover and land safely.
One defence expert now says that incident may prove to be vitally important as investigators probe the cause of last month’s Cyclone crash in the Ionian Sea. The crash, which happened while the chopper was taking part in NATO operations, claimed the lives of six Canadian service members — four aircrew and two sailors.
Chopper ‘flew into the ocean,’ say sources
Multiple defence sources tell CBC News that at the time of the crash, the Cyclone was conducting a high-speed, low-level photo pass of HMCS Fredericton, a manoeuvre known in the air force as a “Brownie Run” after a NATO standard camera.
Without warning, the helicopter suddenly pitched forward and “flew into the ocean,” said the sources, who were granted anonymity because of the sensitivity of the investigation.
The March 9, 2017 incident involving a software glitch aboard a Cyclone is a matter of public record. What wasn’t fully revealed at the time, the sources said, was the fact that all three interconnected computers inexplicably reset themselves — something that could have led to a catastrophic crash.
When the nine-month grounding of the fleet ended three years ago, the Cyclones continued to operate for a period of time under a series of flight restrictions while their manufacturer, Sikorsky Aircraft, addressed the software issue through a pre-planned