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Another mishap/incident/accident.......
Federal probe underway after Ilyushin transport plane clips tree
Luke Hendry - Osprey News Network
Friday, October 05, 2007 - 10:00
Local News - Another mishap involving a foreign cargo plane at CFB Trenton is the focus of a federal investigation, raising concerns about public safety.
Officials have confirmed an Ilyushin IL-76 Candid air transport struck a tree at the base Thursday morning, but were releasing few details pending the federal probe.
"One of the IL-76s made contact with a tree today," confirmed public affairs officer Capt. Nicole Meszaros.
"The Transportation Safety Board is investigating, and we will follow their recommendations if and when we get them," she said.
Late that afternoon, however, a base employee who spoke to Osprey News Network on condition of anonymity said staff there are concerned risky flying by foreign crews could result in disaster.
"If these bozos keep doing this, the next time they're going to take out houses," the man said. "It's just a matter of time before they crash, either in Belleville or Trenton."
It's the second time since May that a troubled landing attempt by an IL-76 has been investigated.
The large cargo planes are a regular sight at the base, where they are used to ferry materiel around the world while under contract to Canada's Department of National Defence.
Around midnight on the night of May 10, a Silk Way Airlines Il-76 based in Azerbaijan flying in heavy fog struck the base's eastern fence.
According to a preliminary Transport Canada report obtained by Osprey News Network, the turbojet aircraft "tore out approximately 150 feet of the airport perimeter fence," embedding some of the fence in its landing gear and causing "substantial damage" to the plane. The crew aborted the landing, instead touching down "uneventfully" in Ottawa.
The federal Transportation Safety Board, Transport Canada, and the Canadian Forces Directorate of Flight Safety (DFS) were notified, with the DFS leading the investigation.
No further details of that investigation were available Thursday.
The base worker said foreign crews under DND contract break Canadian flight laws frequently.
"There's something they're not taking care of, which is basically the Canadian flying rules," he said.
"Last time they took out the fence at the base. Last winter there were problems with freezing rain accumulating on the aircraft, and they were trying to take off with freezing rain on the aircraft," he said, adding that was also in violation of flight rules.
He said he lives on the approach path used by the planes as they fly into the base, and worries for the safety of residents in both cities.
"At one point you say, 'Well, next time they're going to hit my house.’”
He added his coworkers are also concerned, and fed up with what they say are cases of dangerous flying.
"We talked about this for the last hour, and we're all getting quite pissed off, because this is getting ridiculous," he said.
Meszaros, meanwhile, said little information could be released Thursday afternoon.
"It's all under investigation," she said.
"We take the safety of the community and the members of 8 Wing and the crew of the Ilyushin very seriously," Meszaros added.
A source told Osprey News Network the military no longer deals with that contractor, and noted Thursday's incident was unrelated.
"This is a different company," the source said, adding the plane was based in the Ukraine.
Further details from Transport Canada and the Transportation Safety Board could not be obtained by press time.
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