2 missing helicopter crew members found dead
DND says an investigation is underway into the crash near Garrison Petawawa
Canada's Department of National Defence (DND) has confirmed the deaths of two missing air force personnel after a military helicopter crash northwest of Ottawa early Tuesday.
DND said a CH-147F Chinook carrying four Canadian Armed Forces members on a training flight crashed into the Ottawa River near Garrison Petawawa just after midnight.
Two members of 450 Tactical Helicopter Squadron had been reported missing.
Those two missing people were found dead Tuesday evening, according to National Defence Minister Anita Anand. DND said their family members have asked for their names not to be released.
The two others on board were found by Garrison Petawawa firefighters with minor injuries and have been released from hospital, according to the department.
The helicopter had two pilots practising flying at night and two crew members in the back, according to Maj.-Gen. Sylvain Ménard at a Wednesday morning news conference. He declined to say what the people who died were doing.
"The full range of support is being provided to the families of the two deceased members, the two surviving air crew members and their families, and to the members of 450 Squadron and Garrison Petawawa at this difficult time," DND said in a news release.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau had said Tuesday afternoon an unspecified number of crew were killed.
WATCH | The defence minister talks about the training flight:
Air force investigating cause
About 110 military members searched the area Tuesday, including divers and air support out of Petawawa and 8 Wing Trenton. Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) divers and local firefighters were also involved.
A search and rescue turned to a search and recovery operation late Tuesday afternoon, according to DND.
On Wednesday, the department said the Royal Canadian Air Force's Directorate of Flight Safety was investigating what caused the crash.
Asked about the existence of a black box, Ménard said the helicopter has a recording device and he didn't know if it had been recovered.
An email from a DND spokesperson said a team of 16 people including investigators, medical and fleet operations advisers and technical and engineering advisers are expected to arrive Thursday.
Barriers set up in water
DND is still asking boaters to avoid the river near the base to allow for "the ongoing environmental containment and clean-up efforts" and to preserve the crash scene.
Anand said barriers have been set up to contain fuel.
The Town of Petawawa stopped taking water from the Ottawa River to its water treatment plant as a precaution and has banned non-essential watering, such as for lawns or gardens.
Neighbouring Laurentian Valley and Pembroke asked residents to conserve water because of high demand "as we assist our (neighbours) with an ongoing Emergency."
On Wednesday, Petawawa Mayor Gary Serviss said potentially hazardous materials being contained means it's possible the water restrictions could be lifted.
Serviss told CBC Radio's Ottawa Morning Wednesday it's a "tremendously emotional time" for the town, which has close ties to the squadron and is very familiar with its Chinook helicopters.
"Every day you hear them and you see them flying around. There's not a person in this town that doesn't have an association or a relation with somebody that works at 450 Squadron."
WATCH | Some of this helicopter's history:
What is 'search and recovery'?
The president and CEO of IAMSAR Solutions, a Canadian company that specializes in aeronautical and maritime search and rescue, said the distinction between rescue and recovery comes after three criteria are met.
The first, said Jean Houde, is that the search area has been covered extensively.
"That means that where we think or where the people at the [rescue co-ordination centre] think the missing people are, it has been searched with a great amount of coverage," he said.
The second is that all leads have been exhausted.
The third factor comes down to the chances the people missing could have survived.
"They normally don't go beyond 24 hours in most cases. But even though a model may say, you know, 24 hours is the maximum survivability, the search may go on for weeks until the other criteria are met," said Houde, who also spent 34 years in the air force
"And when you get to that point then the decision has to be made because you can't search forever."
With files from Avanthika Anand and CBC Radio's Ottawa Morning