Canadian, French military planes ‘came into contact’ at Guam air base – National | Globalnews.ca

0

An international investigation is underway after a Canadian military aircraft and French air force plane “came into contact” at a U.S. air base in Guam last week, Canada’s defence ministry says.

The Department of National Defence told Global News the incident occurred Friday on the ramp at Anderson Air Force Base “in which the two aircraft came into contact.”

Those two aircraft were a Canadian CC-150 Polaris military transport plane and a French Air and Space Force A400M, which is also used as a military transport aircraft.

“There was no one on board the Canadian aircraft at the time and there are no reported casualties,” Daniel Le Bouthillier, a spokesperson for the department said in a statement Monday.


Click to play video: 'Canada unveils Indo-Pacific strategy in bid to move away from over-reliance on China'


Canada unveils Indo-Pacific strategy in bid to move away from over-reliance on China


The Canadian, French and U.S. air forces are investigating what happened.

Story continues below advertisement

Le Bouthillier did not say exactly how the incident occured, or detail the extent of the damage to the Canadian or French aircraft.

“As the matter is still being investigated through the flight safety investigation process, we cannot comment on the potential cause of the damage,” he said.

Global News has reached out to the French Ministry of Defence for further information on what happened.

The Pentagon referred questions about the incident to Anderson Air Force Base, whose press office did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

This is not the first time a Canadian plane has been involved in an incident at an air base.

In 2019, another CC-150 Polaris — the one most commonly used to transport the prime minister, governor general and other high-ranking dignitaries — crashed into an aircraft hangar in Trenton, Ont.


Click to play video: 'Prime minister’s damaged plane grounded after crash'


Prime minister’s damaged plane grounded after crash


According to a military incident summary, that aircraft was stopped and awaiting a tow into the hangar with both the parking brake and chocks — wedges meant to prevent the wheels from rolling — in place.

Story continues below advertisement

But the plane began rolling on its own, right over the chocks, and its nose collided with the hangar wall while the right engine of the aircraft hit a tow tractor inside the hangar.

The aircraft sustained “serious damage,” the military said at the time, and was grounded for several months for repairs.

Canada operates five Polaris aircraft, which have been in service since 1992, for military, medical and diplomatic transport. Two of the aircraft also supply air-to-air refueling.

The federal government is currently working to replace that fleet with six newer-model aircraft.


Click to play video: 'Ottawa will replace Canada’s aging version of Air Force One'


Ottawa will replace Canada’s aging version of Air Force One


Last year, Defence Minister Anita Anand announced her department had purchased its first replacement aircraft, two Airbus A330-200 planes built in 2015 at a cost of US$102 million. Those two planes are expected to arrive in Canada by the end of this year.

Story continues below advertisement

The department intends to procure a total of six newer military transport aircraft for the new fleet.

DND said Monday the Polaris aircraft involved in the incident at Anderson Air Force Base had been in Guam to return Canadian military members who had been taking part in the U.S. Air Force’s Exercise Mobility Guardian.

The U.S. Air Force describes the exercise as the Air Mobility Command’s “largest, and arguably most challenging, exercise in years” designed to ensure combat readiness and “wartime contingency” in the Indo-Pacific region.

Canada has vowed to increase its military presence in the region as part of its larger Indo-Pacific strategy.

— with files from Global’s Amanda Connolly

&copy 2023 Global News, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.

Stay connected with us on social media platform for instant update click here to join our  Twitter, & Facebook

We are now on Telegram. Click here to join our channel (@TechiUpdate) and stay updated with the latest Technology headlines.

For all the latest World News Click Here 

Read original article here

Denial of responsibility! Rapidtelecast.com is an automatic aggregator around the global media. All the content are available free on Internet. We have just arranged it in one platform for educational purpose only. In each content, the hyperlink to the primary source is specified. All trademarks belong to their rightful owners, all materials to their authors. If you are the owner of the content and do not want us to publish your materials on our website, please contact us by email – [email protected]. The content will be deleted within 24 hours.
Leave a comment