Fighter jet crashes in Cold Lake in northern Alberta, pilot ejects safely

COLD LAKE, Alta. – A Canadian Forces pilot is in good condition after ejecting from his CF-18 fighter jet before it crashed in darkness during final approach to a northern Alberta air base.

A military spokesman says Capt. Darren Blakie was at the controls when his plane went down in a field 13 kilometres northwest of Canadian Forces Base Cold Lake a few minutes before midnight on Wednesday.

Lt. David Lavallee says Blakie ejected from the twin-engine plane and was recovered close to the crash site by a military helicopter crew about two hours later.

Blakie — a member of the 409 Tactical Fighter Squadron at Cold Lake — was taken to hospital and was expected to be released following an examination.

Capt. Nicole Meszaros, a spokeswoman for CFB Cold Lake, said Blakie was participating in a night training exercise at the time of the crash.

A flight safety team from National Defence Headquarters in Ottawa was to examine the wreckage and determine what caused the crash.

Capt. Keith Hoey, spokesman for the Joint Rescue Co-ordination Centre at CFB Trenton, Ont., said it wasn’t clear why the pilot had to eject.

“We don’t know what went wrong at this point of time,” added Meszaros. “We don’t like to speculate on that … because it could compromise the outcome of the investigation.”

Hoey said the emergency response to the crash was immediate, although “the weather and the fact that it was dark just made it difficult to find him.”

Blakie was rescued after he set off a flare to draw the attention of the helicopter team. Meszaros said the rescue crew and the RCMP worked together to pinpoint the scene.

“That effort to get everybody involved in finding the downed aircraft and finding the downed pilot was obviously critical in making sure Capt. Blakie survived after the crash.”

Meszaros said she wasn’t sure how many others may have been out flying. “Typically it’s a group of pilots who go up and they do their training in a co-ordinated effort.

It was cold, but Meszaros wasn’t sure if it was snowing. It was -13 C around that time, with the wind chill making it a bone-chilling -22 C.

But Blakie would have been well-prepared, she suggested.

“One thing about flying in northern Alberta, our pilots are well-equipped and well-trained to deal with the elements, so when they go flying, they certainly wear the right military equipment to ensure their safety in the event of a crash,” she said

“We have an extensive program run by our flight safety staff on the base . . . cold weather is something that members of the Canadian Forces operate in.”

The crash is the second in Alberta involving a CF-18 in about four months.

In July, one of the jets exploded in a huge fireball during a low-speed, low-level practice run prior to an air show in Lethbridge.

The pilot, Capt. Brian Bews, suffered back injuries when he ejected from the aircraft just seconds before it hit the ground.

The crash prompted the military to ground the demonstration team’s fighter jets for the remainder of the year, although CF-18s have continued to fly at air shows in non-aerobatic roles.