Latest news with #LenHickey
Winnipeg Free Press
01-05-2025
- General
- Winnipeg Free Press
Spanish pilot missing after small plane crossing Atlantic crashes off Newfoundland
ST. JOHN'S – The search for a pilot whose small aircraft crashed in the Atlantic Ocean off the east coast of Newfoundland continued for a second day on Wednesday. The Transportation Safety Board of Canada says the single-engine Air Tractor AT-802 took off from St. John's International Airport with only the pilot aboard on Tuesday morning. A spokesman for the Joint Rescue Co-ordination Centre in Halifax says the centre received a signal from an emergency beacon around 9 a.m. Atlantic time. Lt.-Cmdr. Len Hickey says the signal came from an area 225 kilometres east of St. John's. He says two Canadian Coast Guard vessels and two fishing boats were dispatched to the scene to begin the search, and they were joined by a military CH-149 Cormorant search-and-rescue helicopter and a CC-130 Hercules fixed-wing aircraft. The searchers later found an oil slick, one of the amphibious plane's floats, as well as an empty orange life-raft and some other debris. Hickey said the transportation board confirmed the turboprop had been purchased in the United States by a man from Spain, whose flight plan included a stopover in St. John's before heading to the Azores, an island chain west of Portugal. During Elections Get campaign news, insight, analysis and commentary delivered to your inbox during Canada's 2025 election. The highly agile Air Tractor aircraft, which has a range of almost 1,000 kilometres, is primarily used for spraying agricultural crops. But it can also be used for aerial firefighting when equipped with floats. Typically, smaller aircraft do not have the range to complete a transatlantic flight, but they can be equipped with auxiliary fuel tanks to extend their flight time. 'He was working his way up the eastern seaboard with the last touch point in North America being St. John's before he crossed the Atlantic,' Hickey said in an interview. 'The Azores was listed in the flight plan as the destination.' Hickey said Wednesday the two fishing boats were released from the search later in the day, and he confirmed the search would continue until sundown. At that point if the pilot had not been found, the RCMP was expected to take on the case as a missing person file. This report by The Canadian Press was first published April 30, 2025.
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
29-04-2025
- General
- CBC
Small plane carrying 1 crashed east of St. John's, search ongoing for pilot
A plane crashed east of St. John's early Tuesday morning, according to the Transportation and Safety Board of Canada. The plane, an Air Tractor AT-802, crashed approximately 130 nautical miles, or 240 kilometres, east of St. John's, the TSB said in an email to CBC News just after 2 p.m. NT. The crash happened around 8:40 a.m. on Tuesday, the board said. Speaking with CBC News, Lt.-Cmdr. Len Hickey of the Joint Rescue Coordination Centre in Halifax said an emergency beacon was received about 50 minutes later. The plane had a solo male occupant. His condition is unknown. "One pontoon of the aircraft was spotted on the surface, as well as an orange life raft. There was also a little bit of debris, and the Cormorant helicopter did confirm that that life raft is empty," Hickey told CBC News. Hickey originally told CBC News the plane had departed from the United States. In a further update just after 3 p.m., the TSB said the plane had departed from St. John's International Airport and was being ferried to Portugal. The AT-802 is a single-engine propeller plane that Air Tractor bills as an agricultural craft, often used for spraying pesticides. It can also be adapted for firefighting purposes. Schematics on the corporate website say the plane has a 60-foot wingspan. Several air vehicles and vessels are now on the scene, Hickey said, including a Hercules aircraft, Cormorant helicopter, a Cougar Airlines helicopter, a PAL Airlines aircraft, a Canadian Coast Guard vessel and two fishing vessels already in the area. Hickey said conditions for searching are poor and deteriorating. "The surface vessels will remain on scene to continue the search, and we'll continue to maintain air cover in rotation throughout the night. So the search will carry on throughout the rest of the day and into the night," he said.
