RCAF Tragedy at Sea

(Republished from the 2 April 1965 issue of The Voxair)

The Honourable Paul Hellyer. Speaking to the House of Commons on the 24th of March as Minister of National Defence, confirmed that an RCAF Argus had crashed at sea the night before with total loss of life.

At the same time he paid tribute to the “outstanding work of the officers and men of the Maritime Air Command”

The Argus, from 404 Squadron, RCAF Station Greenwood, N.S., was exercising with the Halifax-based British submarine Alcide about 60 miles north of San Juan, Puerto Rico, when it crashed into the sea shortly before midnight of the 23rd.

The submariners, who saw the glow of the crash reflected in the night sky, surfaced and headed for the area to investigate, meanwhile calling for help. The Alcide was joined by the Canadian destroyer escorts Gatineau and Terra Nova and later by the helicopter destroyer Annapolis. In all, six ships, two submarines, and carrier and shore based aircraft searched in vain in the floating aircraft debris for survivors of the 16 persons who had been on board. In addition to the 15 crew members, the scientific advisor to the Air Officer Commanding, Maritime Air Command, Dr. C.L. Piggot, was lost.

Mr. Hellyer in his announcement of the Maritime Command personnel,

“Highly skilled and dedicated to their work they have maintained in all types of weather over the years, constant anti-submarine patrols at very low altitudes over the waters off our shores both in the Atlantic and Pacific.”

“Due to the calibre of the men and the level of their training”, he continued, “Maritime Air Command has achieved a record of flight safety that is second to none. Indicative of this is the fact that Argus aircraft which came into service in 1958 had not been involved prior to last night in any major accident or loss of life while flying a total of more than 132,000 hours.”

“While our sympathy goes out to relatives and friends”, Mr. Hellyer concluded, the loss of such men is not only theirs but of Canada as a nation.”

An investigation into the circumstances was immediately launched. The Argus was one of about 18 in six detachments which had operated from the U.S. Naval Air Station, Roosevelt Roads, at Puerto Rico. Ten RCN ships and two Canadian-controlled British submarines were also involved in the Caribbean exercises which began in mid-January and continue to the end of March.

The exercises were code-named Maple Spring for the Canadian forces, which involved some 4,000 personnel, and Maple Springboard, for the joint Canadian-U.S. antisubmarine exercise taking place in the same period.

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Voxair-Winnipeg-1965-04-02