One Canadian military member is dead and five others are missing after a helicopter serving with a NATO naval task force crashed in international waters while operating between Greece and Italy, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau confirmed today.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Defence Minister Harjit Sajjan brief the public and media on the Canadian military helicopter that went missing off the coast of Greece while serving with a NATO naval task force. 0:00
One Canadian military member is dead and five others are missing after a helicopter serving with a NATO naval task force crashed in international waters between Greece and Italy, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau confirmed today.
There were four Royal Canadian Air Force members and two Royal Canadian Navy members on board.
“All of them are heroes. Each of them will leave a void that cannot be filled,” Trudeau said.
The six members were on a six-month deployment that began in January.
There will be many questions in the coming days about how the tragedy occurred, Trudeau said.
“I can assure you, we will get answers in due course.”
Aircraft from Canada, Italy and Turkey, with support from Greece and the U.S., are searching for the CH-148 Cyclone helicopter, NATO said in a short statement.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau started a news conference with Defence Minister Harjit Sajjan and Chief of the Defence Staff Gen. Jonathan Vance at 11:15 a.m. ET today. CBCNews.ca is carrying it live.
Vance said the Cyclone fleet has been put on “operational pause” to allow flight safety teams to investigate and rule out any fleet-wide problems.
He added the helicopter fleet is modern and has “state-of-the-art” technology.
“We have a lot of confidence in this fleet,” he said.
Vance said the crash’s debris area is large and the exact position of wreckage is not yet known. The voice and flight data recorders broke away from the helicopter and have been retrieved, he said.
Sajjan said efforts are underway to find the five missing members and the cause of the crash is unknown.
A team is en route to the region to get answers.
The helicopter was based on HMCS Fredericton, which recently sailed from Souda, Greece, as part of a “mission of maritime situational awareness in the Mediterranean,” including exercises with the Turkish Navy and Greece’s Hellenic Navy and Air Force this past week, NATO said.
Vance called it a “time of agony” for the Canadian Armed Forces and for the family members of those who were on board, and said the military has been in touch