Boeing Chinook News from Canada

 

 

 

 

Dented Canadian Chinook Recovered

 

 

CAMP BASTION, Afghanistan – Canadian and U.S. forces safely recovered a downed Canadian Forces CH-147 Chinook helicopter during a Tactical Recovery of Aircraft and Personnel (TRAP) mission in Kandahar province, Afghanistan, on 17 May 2011.

Utilizing a trio CH-53E Super Stallion helicopters from Marine Heavy Helicopter Squadron 461, with assistance from 2nd Marine Logistics Group’s helicopter support team, the Canadian and American team was able to transport the damaged aircraft back to its home at Kandahar Airfield, Afghanistan.

“We showed up with two aircraft to do the lift in case one had a maintenance issue during the mission,” said Major Jade Steward-Campbell a CH-53E pilot and HMH-461’s maintenance officer. “A third CH-53 served as our tactical support aircraft, which launched out with the HST to rig

the CH-147 for pick-up, and to transport all the debris from the crash and Canadian Forces personnel back to Kandahar.”

To ensure the mission was carried out safely, a pair of Canadian Forces attack helicopters provided close-air support during the mission, while Canadian Leopard 2 tanks provided ground security.

“There were also Canadians who worked in conjunction with the HST,” explained Staff Sgt. Peter Montalvo, a CH-53E crew chief and weapons and tactics instructor with HMH-461. “They had the manuals for the Chinook and were the subject matter experts. We took our cue from them and working together we were able to bring the aircraft back to Kandahar.”

Prior to launching the mission, the HMH-461 planners had a number of factors to consider.

“Our maintenance section had to strip over two tons of unnecessary parts off the CH-53s in order to enable them to execute this lift,” Steward-Campbell, a Carson City, Nevada, native said. “Almost everything, with the exception of the engines and rotor blades, had to be removed from the aircraft with only eight hours notice.”

Decreasing the weight of the aircraft was not the only factor taken into consideration before the mission.

“The zone was extremely challenging for us, mostly due to the dust,” Steward-Campbell said. “We had reduced the weight of the aircraft, so it had sufficient power, but the dust made it difficult to find reference over the ground, but it’s the mission we train for and we accomplished it.”

This mission marks the second time the Marine Corps Air Station New River, North Carolina, based squadron has been called upon to perform a tactical aircraft recovery during their current deployment to Afghanistan.

“We are the premier TRAP and heavy-lift asset in-theater,” said Montalvo, a Eureka, California, native. ”I think this mission went very well. We had multiple agencies and multiple countries working together. We went in with an international effort and got the job done.” Click-N-Go on the photographs above to view larger versions.

 

 

 

 

Canada's Chinook helicopters to be Sold as Afghan mission ends

 

 

A Canadian Chinook helicopter is pictured on 10 September 2009 in Afghanistan. Canadian National Defence has put 'For Sale' signs on the air force's Chinook helicopters in Afghanistan - two years after taxpayers shelled out $282 million to buy them.

 

 

1 February 2011, OTTAWA — National Defence has put 'For Sale' signs on the air force's Chinook helicopters in Afghanistan -- two years after taxpayers shelled out $282 million to buy them.

The department recently sounded out allies in the war-torn country to see whether any are interested in the heavy battlefield transports, purchased second-hand from the U.S. Army.

Some defence analysts suggest Canada might be better served by bringing the choppers home for domestic operations, perhaps improving the search-and-rescue system.

So far there have been no takers for the five CH-147D choppers, which were rushed into Afghanistan after the Manley commission made it a condition of Ottawa continuing the war until 2011.

Canada initially purchased six aircraft in a government-to-government arrangement with Washington, but one was shot down by Taliban small-arms fire in Panjwaii district, west of Kandahar city, last August [see the article below].

To make up for the loss, Ottawa leased a D model American Chinook (tail number unknown - if you know, please let us know) for the reminder of the mission. Defence officials refused to say at what cost.

If no buyers are found for the Canadian Chinooks they will be packed up and brought home when the combat mission ends in July, said the general who leads the transition headquarters.

"We're still looking to divest ourselves of them," Brig.-Gen. Charles Lamarre said in a recent interview with The Canadian Press.

"They're going to have to push that through and get them sold before we shut things down. If by chance we don't, we'll still have a responsibility to look after that equipment."

The air force picked up the Afghanistan choppers intending to sell them once the combat mission ended. The decision was made, in part, because there was a new fleet of helicopters on order.

The Conservative government signalled its intention to spend $4.7 billion on 15 new Chinooks a few years ago. The new choppers are latest model -- the F series -- and have been modified with extra-large fuel tanks and improved sensors.

But Rob Huebert of the Centre for Strategic Studies at the University of Calgary said the older Chinooks could serve a vital role in Canada.

They could free some of the newer helicopters for operations in the Arctic, or even bolster the country's hard-pressed search-and-rescue fleet, he said.

"I don't think having too many helicopters is a bad thing," Huebert said. "The type of capability and the type of lift the Chinooks provide can always be put to use here."

Having the surplus Chinooks around would give the military the opportunity during the summer to station one or two of the newer long-range helicopters in the North, where the Harper government has said it wants a more robust presence.

The air force has long had availability and spare parts woes with its CH-149 Cormorant search-and-rescue helicopters, and operations of that aircraft have been restricted to the East and West Coasts.

Huebert said the extra Chinooks could slide into search-and-rescue operations in Central Canada, where the smaller Griffon helicopter has been covering the gap.

The cost of maintaining and operating the older Chinooks might be slightly higher, he said, but likely not prohibitive to the extent that other fleets would have to be shut down.

The air force has said it would be expensive to keep the D model aircraft.

The Defence Department was asked for comment, but refused to discuss the rationale for ditching the helicopters.

[Editor's Note: Some estimates have placed the hourly operating cost of the US Army CH-47 Chinook helicopter at over USD 3,000.]

 

 

 

 

Canadian Chinook Shot Down

 

 

Canadian soldiers gather near a burning Canadian Forces CH-147 Chinook helicopter after it made a hard landing close to the village of Bazaar e Panjway, in the Panjway district west of Kandahar on 5 August 2010.

 

 

5 August 2010, KANDAHAR, Afghanistan — Eight soldiers suffered minor injuries Thursday after a Canadian Chinook helicopter, tail number unknown, was struck by small arms fire and forced to make a hard landing. The aircraft burst into flames and was destroyed.

There were five crew members and 16 passengers on board the CH-147 Chinook helicopter that came down hard at 2 p.m. local time near Bazaar e Panjway, about 20 kilometres west of Kandahar City — Afghanistan's second-largest city. The five crew members included two pilots and three door gunners.

The helicopter was formerly a CH-47D operated by the U.S. Army and purchased by the Canada for use in the Canadian Forces to supplement their operations in the Middle Eastern Theater.

[Editor's Note: If you know the tail numbers involved, we would sure like to know. Please email us.]

 

 

Related Information

 

Canadian C Models

Operation Iraqi Liberation

 

 

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