Latest news with #JointRescueCoordinationCentre
CBC
30-04-2025
- General
- CBC
Emergency search for missing man in plane crash will continue until sundown, official says
Search efforts for a missing Spanish man in the waters off Newfoundland will continue until sunset Wednesday, according to the Joint Rescue Coordination Centre (JRCC) in Halifax. The search began on Tuesday when an Air Tractor AT-802 crashed 240 kilometres east of St. John's at around 8:40 a.m that morning. Wednesday's search involves the Canadian Coast Guard, a Hercules aircraft and a Cormorant helicopter, according to JRCC Lt.-Cmdr. Len Hickey. "The intent is to carry on with search until sundown tonight. At that time, all assets involved in the search are going to return to base and the case is going to be turned over to the RCMP as a missing persons [investigation]," Hickey told CBC News Wednesday afternoon. He added the decision to hand the investigation to police is based on survivability modelling of the crash. "Normally it's policy by JRCC to go well past what would be expected for someone to survive in this scenario," Hickey said. "When they're confident that they've certainly been out there searching well past the chance that the person would survive, then it's passed on." This missing man is from Spain, Hickey said, and was piloting the plane he recently purchased from the United States. The plane was destined for the Azores, an autonomous region of Portugal. "He was flying that aircraft up the eastern seaboard. The intent was for the last touch point in North America to be St. John's, and then they were going to make the hop across the Atlantic," Hickey said. Searchers found an oil slick on the water near the crash site Tuesday. Hickey said it's too early to tell if it — or the crash — was caused by a mechanical issue with the plane. Search conditions had improved on Wednesday, he added.
Toronto Star
29-04-2025
- General
- Toronto Star
Crews searching for pilot missing after plane crashes off Newfoundland's east coast
ST. JOHN'S - Crews are searching for a pilot missing in the waters off the east coast of Newfoundland after a pontoon plane crashed this morning while en route to Portugal. Len Hickey with the Joint Rescue Coordination Centre in Halifax says officials received an SOS and an emergency transmitter alert from a small, single-engine American pontoon plane at about 9:08 a.m. Atlantic time.
Winnipeg Free Press
29-04-2025
- General
- Winnipeg Free Press
Crews searching for pilot missing after plane crashes off Newfoundland's east coast
ST. JOHN'S – Crews are searching for a pilot missing in the waters off the east coast of Newfoundland after a pontoon plane crashed this morning while en route to Portugal. Len Hickey with the Joint Rescue Coordination Centre in Halifax says officials received an SOS and an emergency transmitter alert from a small, single-engine American pontoon plane at about 9:08 a.m. Atlantic time. The signals originated from an area roughly 225 kilometres off the coast of St. John's, N.L. Hickey says a crew including a Coast Guard vessel, two local fishing boats, a Cormorant helicopter and a Hercules aircraft have been looking for the pilot all day. He says crews were able to find one of the plane's pontoons, some debris and an empty orange life raft, but so far there is no sign of the pilot, who was the lone occupant. During Elections Get campaign news, insight, analysis and commentary delivered to your inbox during Canada's 2025 election. The Transportation Safety Board says the Air Tractor AT-802 took off from the St. John's International Airport and was being flown to an unspecified destination in Portugal. This report by The Canadian Press was first published April 29, 2025.
CBC
13-02-2025
- CBC
TSB concludes investigation into sailboat that disappeared off Nova Scotia
The Transportation Safety Board of Canada has concluded its investigation into the Theros, a sailboat that disappeared off the coast of Nova Scotia in June, but was unable to determine definitively what happened. A report on the incident that led to the deaths of the Theros's two crew members said whatever happened is "consistent with an occurrence involving a fire on board the sailing vessel." The report was released on Feb. 10. The Theros left Halifax on June 10, 2024, and was on its way to the Azores, Portugal. It was reported missing to the Joint Rescue Coordination Centre in Halifax on June 18 after somebody phoned in to express concern that the vessel's position had not been updated on the website for the boat's satellite communication device. The centre checked the emergency beacon for the Theros and found it was unregistered and there was no recent activity in the area where it had been. It then checked the Theros's automatic identification system and noted it had stopped transmitting a signal at 12:21 p.m. AT on June 13. The centre tried to contact the Theros directly and never got a response. It then informed "other relevant authorities" about the situation and made "ongoing broadcasts" to vessels in the area of the Theros's last known position to find out if anyone had seen it. On July 10, two bodies later confirmed to be the crew of the Theros were found in a 3.3-metre life-raft that washed up on Sable Island. In its report, the board noted this indicated the crew members — a 54-year-old woman and a 70-year-old man from British Columbia — had abandoned the vessel. The Theros was not found. One of the crew members was found wearing a flotation suit that had sustained fire damage. "The suit was melted on the left side from top to bottom. The fire damage had occurred while the crew member was wearing the suit; it would not have been possible to don the suit in the damaged condition," the report noted. The other crew member was not wearing a flotation suit. The Theros's propulsion system had been retrofitted with an electric system that incorporated an electric car battery, the report noted. The board also investigated the possibility the Theros could have collided with a commercial tanker that was roughly 18.5 kilometres away from its last known position on June 13, but so far there has not been a definitive link. The report doesn't name the two crew members, but a family member confirmed to CBC in July they were Brett Clibberry and his wife, Sarah Packwood. The experienced sailors, who lived on B.C.'s Salt Spring Island, documented their travels on YouTube.
CBC
13-02-2025
- CBC
TSB concludes investigation into Theros, the sailboat that disappeared off Nova Scotia in June
The Transportation Safety Board of Canada has concluded its investigation into the Theros, a sailboat that disappeared off the coast of Nova Scotia in June, but was unable to determine definitively what happened. A report on the incident that led to the deaths of the Theros's two crew members said whatever happened is "consistent with an occurrence involving a fire on board the sailing vessel." The report was released on Feb. 10. The Theros left Halifax on June 10 and was on its way to the Azores, Portugal. It was reported missing to the Joint Rescue Coordination Centre in Halifax on June 18 after somebody phoned in to express concern. The centre checked the emergency beacon for the Theros and found it was unregistered and there was no recent activity in the area where it had been. It then checked the Theros's automatic identification system and noted it had stopped transmitting a signal at 12:21 p.m. AT on June 13. The centre tried to contact the Theros directly and never got a response. It then informed "other relevant authorities" about the situation and made "ongoing broadcasts" to vessels in the area of the Theros's last known position to find out if anyone had seen it. On July 10, two bodies later confirmed to be the crew of the Theros were found in a 3.3-metre life-raft that washed up on Sable Island. In its report, the board noted this indicated the crew members — a 54-year-old woman and a 70-year-old man from British Columbia — had abandoned the vessel. The Theros was not found. One of the crew members was found wearing a flotation suit that had sustained fire damage. "The suit was melted on the left side from top to bottom. The fire damage had occurred while the crew member was wearing the suit; it would not have been possible to don the suit in the damaged condition," the report noted. The other crew member was not wearing a flotation suit. The Theros's propulsion system had been retrofitted with an electric system that incorporated an electric car battery, the report noted. The board also investigated the possibility the Theros could have collided with a commercial tanker that was roughly 18.5 kilometres away from its last known position on June 13, but so far there has not been a definitive link. The report doesn't name the two crew members, but a family member confirmed to CBC in July they were Brett Clibberry and Sarah Packwood. The experienced sailors, who lived on B.C.'s Salt Spring Island, documented their travels on YouTube.
