By Scott Taylor
In the early morning hours of Tuesday June 20 a Royal Canadian Air Force CH-147F Chinook helicopter from Garrison Petawawa crashed into the Ottawa River. The initial reports in the media stated that four crewmembers had been onboard the Chinook: Two were injured and two were missing.
As per the RCAF official statements the military were working with civilian agencies to conduct a search-and-rescue operation.
Obviously there was a communication breakdown at the uppermost levels as later that same day; Prime Minister Justin Trudeau contradicted the official military talking points. “I was happy to speak with Chief of the Defence Staff last night to express my condolences to the families and colleagues of the members who have been killed,” Trudeau said to shocked journalists who were still reporting this as an ongoing ‘rescue’ mission.
While some critics took umbrage with Trudeau’s use of the word ‘happy’ to describe his expression of condolences, I will trust it was simply uttered in error.
To keep apace with Trudeau’s revelation, the RCAF began reporting their operation as that of ‘search-and-recovery.’
On the morning of Wednesday June 21, the RCAF tweeted out what they titled ‘RCAF Incident Final Update, Petawawa ON.’ It stated “The two missing air crew members from the RCAF CH-147F Chinook that crashed in the Ottawa River on Tuesday June 20, were found last evening. Tragically neither member survived. The names of the deceased individuals are not being released at the request of the families.”
In response to journalists questions, the RCAF further explained that they were not going to reveal the specific trade qualifications of the deceased air crew members.
Again, someone failed to ensure that Canada’s senior elected officials were singing from the same song sheet. Former Defence Minister Harjit Sajjan – currently the minister of International Development of Canada, retweeted the RCAF ‘Final Update’ and added “My heart goes out to the families and loved ones of the two pilots who lost their lives in this tragic helicopter crash. No words can describe a loss as tragic as this. Their service and sacrifice will always be remembered and honoured.”
Somebody in the DND comms office noticed Sajjan’s slip up as he hastily took down the tweet.
However, keen-eyed defence reporter David Pugliese had already screen saved the tweets, and he re-posted them.
The initial decision to not release the names of the deceased was without precedent. These individuals were killed in the line of duty. While I understand this was at the request of the families, they were both killed in the service of Canada and should be honoured as such. It was subsequently announced that the two deceased were in fact Capt. David Domagala, and Capt. Marc Larouche
We know from media reports that the tight-knit Chinook helicopter community is mourning, as is the entire Garrison Petawawa.
The Canadian Armed Forces is a tiny sub section of Canadian society: One in five service-members is married to a fellow service-member and one in three new recruits has either one or both parents in uniform.
This recent tragic loss will reverberate throughout the entire defence community.
Perhaps more disturbing is the fact that the communication gaffs in this incident were eerily reminiscent of DND’s handling of the April 29, 2020 CH-148 Cyclone helicopter crash which claimed the lives of six service-members. Within hours of that crash in the Ionian Sea, Greek news outlets began reporting the downing of a Canadian Sea King helicopter.
As this circulated on social media, Canadian newsrooms were sceptical that this might be Russian disinformation as Canada no longer flew Sea Kings.
On April 30, 2020 more than 30 hours after the crash occurred the DND issued a formal statement that a CH-148 Cyclone helicopter had crashed: one member of the CAF had been killed and five others remained missing.
The official version was that the Cyclone had lost contact while returning to HMCS Fredericton. The scenario DND painted was that of a mysterious crash which had sparked an ongoing search-and-rescue mission by the entire NATO squadron.
The following day on May 1, the DND reported that this was now a search-and-recovery mission with all the five ‘missing’ aircrew members presumed dead.
It was at this juncture that CBC was tipped off to the fact that the Cyclone was conducting a low level pass right beside HMCS Fredericton when it nose dived and crashed into the waves.
To date no one has ever been able to explain how or why the initial reports claimed the ship had lost contact with the helicopter, and why for more than 48 hours, Canadians were filled with the false hope that the ‘missing’ would be found safe.
I offer my condolences to the family friends and comrades of the two deceased aircrew and full and speedy recovery to the two injured survivors.
