No Mechanical Faults Found

The Royal Canadian Air Force has assembled a board of inquiry to investigate last month's fatal crash of a Cormorant helicopter off the coast of Nova Scotia, that claimed the lives of three crewmembers.

Colonel Grant Smith, president of the board, said the investigation will take a look at what happened in the early morning hours of July 13, when the helicopter went down suddenly off Canso as it was conducting hoist exercises.

"We convene a board of inquiry every time there’s a significant aircraft accident," Smith told The Canadian Press, from the Cormorant's base in Nova Scotia. "It's a standard routine practice."

Smith adds the review will coincide with a separate flight safety investigation already underway. That team is now readying its preliminary report.

"So our (report) could be used for a variety of purposes such as equipment modifications, training process changes, and compensation and benefits for those injured and killed in the accident," he said.

At the moment, however, it appears unlikely that preliminary report will shed any new information on the accident... as Smith says it is not yet clear what brought the helicopter down.

What investgators do know... is there is no sign of a mechanical problem with the relatively new aircraft. Cormorants have been under scrutiny in Canada over issues with the tail assembly.

FMI: www.forces.gc.ca/site/home_e.asp