“Yesterday, a Royal Canadian Navy helicopter on a NATO mission carrying six members of the Canadian Armed Forces went down with all hands in the Ionian Sea off the coast of Greece.
“They were flying from the Canadian naval frigate HMCS Fredericton – home port of Halifax – as part of Operation REASSURANCE. One casualty was recovered and five are missing”, Trudeau said at a briefing.
According to later information, the lost helicopter was a CH-148 Cyclone, not a Sikorsky CH-124 Sea King.
On 29 April, The Greek outlet Militaire.gr reported that a Canadian Sikorsky CH-124 Sea King anti-submarine warfare helicopter, with six people on board, disappeared 52 nautical miles (60 miles) west of Cephalonia Island in the Ionian Sea.
Defence Minister Harjit Sajjan stated that the cause of the crash remains “unknown”, but that the cockpit voice and flight data recorders have been recovered.
According to reports, the HMCS Fredericton frigate (FFH 337) located the wreckage on Wednesday evening.
Greek authorities were not involved in the search and rescue operation, Militaire.gr said.
AFP