Back in October the Prime Minister's plane rolled into the side of a hanger at Trenton (air base) and crunched the nose rendering it unable to fly for months if not well over a year (still not back in the air). The final report is now. #CAF #RCAF
At the time RCAF sources told me they suspected a lack of proper training and potential errors by the contracted civilian ground crew. The report released by the RCAF says investigators found "training was informal and lacking emergency procedures" #CAF #RCAF
The report found that while the parking break was put on, chocks were only placed under some of the aircraft's wheels (not all), and the chocks were "not authorized" by DND in the Technical Support Arrangement they had with the company. #CAF #RCAF
So in lay terms - while the break was on the plane, they didn't shove blocks in front of all of the wheels and the blocks they used were not the kind approved of in the contract with DND. they also don't know why the parking break didn't stop the plane from moving.
The contractors also took the plane to a Hanger it is not normally in, and used a tractor that was too large for the limited space.
larger context to all of this and consequences: taking that plane out of commission put a lot of pressure on the RCAF. The planes are old, hard to fix, expensive and rare. In the midst of the RCAF having a lot of other problems right now including a pilot crisis this is just SMH.
Why civilian ground crews are working on a RCAF base in the first place is an interesting question. Anyhow, I've asked if the military is going to sue the company and if they have an updated estimate on when the plane will be back in the air.
The plane is also commonly used for troop transport and can be used for the GG too. It's the only one with the fancier paint job although believe me after many trips on it there is nothing fancy about the inside. This is an old Ward Air plane.
It's absence meant the PM, the GG and troops had 2 planes to juggle everything instead of the usual and already rather limited three planes.
Should you wish to read the report it can be found here rcaf-arc.forces.gc.ca/en/flight-safe…
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