Pilot who died in Cold Lake CF-18 crash didn't eject, call for help: DND | iNFOnews | Thompson-Okanagan's News Source
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Pilot who died in Cold Lake CF-18 crash didn't eject, call for help: DND

Capt. Thomas McQueen is shown in this undated handout image. An investigation has found McQueen, a pilot who died during a training mission near the Alberta-Saskatchewan boundary, didn't eject or call for help before the crash.THE CANADIAN PRESS/HO-Canadian Armed Forces Imagery MANDATORY CREDIT
Original Publication Date February 27, 2017 - 12:30 PM

OTTAWA - An investigation has found a pilot who died during a training mission near the Alberta-Saskatchewan boundary didn't eject or call for help before the crash.

A release from the Department of National Defence says Capt. Thomas McQueen, who was 29 and from Hamilton, died on impact in the November crash.

The department says McQueen's single-seater plane was part of an exercise which involved dropping simulated bombs over the Cold Lake Air Weapons Range in Saskatchewan.

The investigation has found the plane was flying at an altitude of 137 metres when it dropped its simulated bomb and McQueen then tried to manoeuvre away to avoid any simulated bomb fragmentation.

Capt. Trevor Reid with the Royal Canadian Air Force says McQueen's plane rolled to the left shortly after the simulated bomb drop and then crashed to the ground and exploded on impact.

"The bank angle decreased slightly just before the aircraft hit the ground," he said.

Another pilot witnessed the crash and called for help.

There were no radio transmissions from McQueen, said the Airworthiness Investigative Authority in a release.

"He did not eject and was fatally injured when the aircraft struck the ground in a descending left turn," the authority said in its summary Monday.

"The investigation is continuing to examine all the operational and technical factors that may have played a role in the accident."

It's not clear yet what caused the crash, Reid said.

"It would be premature to say the aircraft was out of control," he said. "We have to respect the investigative processes. It's too early to say what exactly was happening, what the pilot was doing and some of the other factors that may be in play."

The air weapons range covers almost 30,000 square kilometres spanning the two provinces. Cold Lake is the busiest fighter base in the country and provides fighter pilot training for all Canadian Forces pilots.

At least 10 pilots have died in crashes of CF-18s since the military bought 138 of the jets for $5 billion in 1980.

McQueen had been with the Air Force for a decade and served in missions in eastern Europe and Iraq.

His family said he died doing what he loved. In a statement following his death, they said McQueen grew up on a farm near Hamilton and was engaged to be married.

He used to draw jets on his homework and "never wavered in his desire to be a fighter pilot.''

"Thomas loved speed, whether it was on a boat, his dirt bike, or breaking the sound barrier in his jet," the family said.

"He loved everyone and always took care of others before himself. Thomas touched the lives of so many people, and he will be deeply missed.''

News from © The Canadian Press, 2017
The Canadian Press

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