Canadian Air Force plane Crash today

[peter]

From CBC news...
http://www.cbc.ca/canada/saskatchewa...-military.html


A military aircraft has crashed at 15 Wing Moose, a base in southwest Saskatchewan, with eyewitnesses saying they saw a parachute.

There was no immediate word on any injuries.

Eyewitnesses told CBC News that they saw a large cloud of black smoke above the base around 1 p.m. CT. on Wednesday.

Grant Noble, a rural resident in the area, said emergency vehicles were quick to arrive at the scene.

"I can still see about a dozen out there, and probably a couple dozen of people walking around out there," Noble said from a vantage point not far from the base. "Fire trucks, police cars, dark-coloured military vehicles."

CBC News has been told that the downed plane is one of the Tutor training jets used at the base.

Also known as a the CT-114, the aircraft is also used by the Snowbirds aerobatic squadron.

CBC News has been told the plane that crashed, however, was not part of that team.

[BLR]

I'm afraid the news is not good.

Two dead after Tutor plane crashes near Moose Jaw
leaderpost.com
Published: Thursday, October 09, 2008
MOOSE JAW -- Two people are dead, the pilot and a passenger, after a military plane crashed near Moose Jaw, around 12:30 p.m. today, a military official has confirmed.

15 Wing Commander, Col. Paul Keddy confirmed the deaths minutes ago at a news conference here. He did not release the names of the dead, because their families are still being contacted.

Capt. Genevieve Mitchell, the public relations officer for 15 Wing Moose Jaw, said one CT-114 Tutor aircraft crashed approximately two kilometres northwest of the Wing perimeter at about 12:37 today.

Mitchell said the Tutor was on a training mission at the time of the crash.
An eyewitness reported the crash to the Moose Jaw Times-Herald shortly after 12:30, saying a plane went down near 15 Wing Moose Jaw.

15 Wing is home to the Snowbirds, Canada's national air demonstration team. The CT-114 is flown by the Snowbirds, but there is still no confirmation that a Snowbird plane was involved in the crash.

The Times-Herald spoke with area resident Doug Johnson, who was driving north on Highway 2 around 12:30 p.m. Thursday when a group of planes caught his eye.

"There were three together and two off to the side," he said. Johnson said he noticed smoke coming from behind one of the planes and originally thought it was the smoke that often trails after planes during a performance. But then he thought the colour was odd.

"When I turned to look back again, I saw one of the planes beeline into the ground." He thought the plane was a Tutor.

Johnson said he didn't see a parachute, "but that doesn't mean it didn't happen," he said.

Johnson was about three kilometres south of 15 Wing when he saw the crash. He said it was off to the west about five kilometres from Highway 2.

The crash is under investigation by a flight safety team.

Leader-Post reporters Anne Kyle and Karen Brownlee are at the air base, located about 75 kilometres west of Regina, equipped to send back words and pictures. Video will also be shot.

Last April, an instructor and student pilot were ejected from an aircraft at 15 Wing 1 1/2 seconds before it crashed into the end of the runway. Investigators believe the crash may have been caused by a broken turbine blade.

[peter]

The team is away in California and may not be aware of the incident yet.
I have asked scott to pull this thread out of respect