And still not a word about it on the RCAF or 14 Wing websites.
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Aurora damaged after aborted takeoff at 14 Wing Greenwood
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JESSICA FLOWER
The Chronicle Herald

Published August 27, 2015
Updated August 28, 2015

A Lockheed CP-140 Aurora was damaged Thursday morning at 14 Wing Greenwood airbase during an attempted takeoff.

“The plane aborted takeoff, we’re not too sure why, and slid off the runway. It’s under investigation,” said airbase spokesman Sgt. Pete Nicholson.

The incident occurred at about 10:20 a.m. Environment Canada reported conditions for the base at the time as a thunderstorm with rain showers and a visibility of five kilometres, a dramatic drop from the 24 kilometres reported an hour earlier.

All 17 people on board were unharmed and the extent of the damage to the plane is also under investigation, said Nicholson.

The aircraft’s flight was part of its daily operations at the base.

“If you look, she went down on her nose, all four props are bent,” said Randy Sloan, a civilian who was outside the base Thursday afternoon. “When props are hit like that, it damages the motor, unless they feathered it before they landed, which I doubt. The were probably at full power.”

Sloan said there was very little damage to the body of the plane and it looked more like an “incident than a crash — like a hard landing.”

Former Aurora pilot Terry Chester, one of the original flight team who brought the planes up to Canada in 1979, said that these planes are meticulously maintained.

“My position is that we over-maintain the planes. They are paranoid about safety,” Chester said. “We put them through longer and harder hours than any other air force in the world and we’re able to do so because of the level of maintenance. No way are they allowed shortcuts. Everyone I’m still in contact with in the air force still has the same attitude, that excellence is the only performance level. Right down to the ground crews, they are very proud of their work and maintenance. I’m totally confident in these planes.”

He said that takeoff is aborted from time to time and can be caused by a myriad of things. Anything from crew, to equipment to stormy weather, like the base had on Thursday morning.

“What might have happened, and this is from my perspective, but they might have hydroplaned and lost directional control. Obviously, this is my own opinion and an investigation will determine what happened.”

The thing about the CP-140s that will make the investigation more conclusive, he said, is that they are all equipped with a voice recorder in the cockpit as well as a data recorder.

“From my perspective, and from what you’ve told me, it was most likely weather- or crew-related,” Chester said.

He was part of the Royal Canadian Air Force Association that successfully lobbied the Defence Department for the upgrades on the “tried and tested airframes”.

The Royal Canadian Air Force commonly uses the Aurora for maritime patrol.
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