May 18, 2004
REGINA (SNN) -- The military jet trainer that crashed near Moose Jaw Friday afternoon might have been brought down by a bird, the commander of the Canadian Forces' 15 Wing said Monday.
"What's being looked at is a bird strike -- the ingestion by the engine of a bird," Col. Alain Boyer said. "That's what the No. 1 theory is right now. That would explain the loss of thrust from the engine."
Canadian Forces Capt. John Hutt, the instructor aboard the Hawk trainer, and the student, flight Lieut. Ed Morris of Britain's Royal Air Force, both ejected at about 300 meters.
Morris was unhurt and was back at the base Friday night, but Hutt is in Saskatoon's Royal University Hospital with a broken leg, Boyer said Monday. "He was operated on last night."
Investigating the crash is a team of about 10 people, including personnel from the Canadian Forces Directorate of Flight Safety, the Aerospace Engineering and Test Establishment at Cold Lake, Alta., and specialists in medicine and safety systems.
15 Wing's 19 remaining Hawk aircraft were briefly grounded, but were back in service Monday, said Boyer.
The loss of the Hawk jet will not affect the base's training schedule because losses through attrition were built into the original order for aircraft, he added.
The crash of the CT-155 Hawk occurred late Friday afternoon as the aircraft was doing "touch-and-go" landings. In these, a crew practises landings by lining up on a runway, reducing speed and altitude until it is just above the runway, then applying power, gaining altitude and climbing away.
The aircraft crashed about two kilometres northwest of the base, which itself is located south of Moose Jaw's southern city limits.
The Hawk is used for advanced jet pilot training under the NATO Flight Training in Canada program at 15 Wing, which trains pilots from the United Kingdom, Denmark, Italy, Hungary and Singapore as well as Canada.
The plane:
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