Canada enlists US Navy in recovery of lost military Helicopter in Greece
May 20, 2020
Toronto [Canada], May 20 (Sputnik/ANI): The Canadian Armed Forces have enlisted the help of the US Navy in the recovery mission of a doomed military helicopter off the coast of Greece, Lt.-Gen. Mike Rouleau told reporters during a briefing.
"We determined that the most rapid response capability was resident in the US Navy," Rouleau said on Tuesday.
Canada, he added, does not possess the technological capability to recover wreckage from the depth - 3,000 meters - where the remains of the helicopter lie.
Rouleau said that the Canadian military secured US Navy support within nine days of the deadly crash and Canadian aircraft began transporting US experts and deep-submersible technology to the region as of May 15.
Canadian investigators as well as experts from the US Naval Sea Systems Command (NAVSEA) and the Office of the Supervisor of Salvage and Diving (SUPSALV) experts are expected to begin the recovery mission next week. The investigation, despite the assistance of US personnel, will be led by Canadian forces members, Rouleau said.
The Canadian helicopter fleet has been placed on an operational pause while experts assess the cause of the accident.
A Royal Canadian Navy Sikorsky CH-148 Cyclone based aboard the HMCS Fredericton went missing off the coast of Greece on Wednesday as the frigate was engaged in training exercises with Italian and Turkish ships at the time of the accident.
According to Chief of the Defense Staff Jonathan Vance, the helicopter was part of Operation REASSURANCE, a NATO mission in Central and Eastern Europe as a deterrent to Russian and other adversarial efforts to undermine European and North Atlantic security. Canada's Department of National Defense, REASSURANCE is the country's largest military operation abroad, with up to 915 Canadian armed forces members deployed at any time. (Sputnik/ANI)
