Pilot, student eject as training plane crashes near Moose Jaw

A military pilot and student are safe after their training plane crashed south of Moose Jaw on Friday morning.

Both were treated for non-lifethreatening injuries, according to a statement from the Department of National Defence. One had to be airlifted to the hospital in Regina, 15 Wing Lt. Jennifer Halliwell told the Moose Jaw Times-Herald.

Neither of the members’ names nor genders are being released to protect their privacy.

The duo were flying a CT156 Harvard II, which is the aircraft of choice for the NATO flying training in Canada program and the standard aircraft for students on the base, which is the heart of the Royal Canadian Air Force aircrew training program.

The plane went down around 10:30 a.m., but both pilot and student were able to successfully eject from the aircraft.

Emergency responders including Moose Jaw’s fire department, the local RCMP detachment, as well as a military surgeon were on the scene shortly after the plane went down.

It landed in a little valley several kilometres south of the base. Although most of the plane was shielded from view, cordoned off by officials, one of the plane’s wings could be seen jutting up from the ground. It looked to be still attached to the fuselage of the airplane.

Lt. Michele Tremblay, a spokeswoman with the base, said the pilots are an instructor and a student with the Royal Canadian Air Force serving at the 2 Canadian Forces Flying Training School.

Details of what prompted the pilots to eject were not released.

Halliwell said a team is coming from Ottawa to investigate the cause of the crash.

The last time a CT156 Harvard II crashed near the base was in 2014. Both pilots in that incident were able to eject from the plane safely and parachute to the ground.

In the 2014 crash, emergency personnel were on scene during the actual incident having been alerted prior to the crash by the pilot that it was not safe to land.

The cause of Friday’s incident is not yet known, but Halliwell said emergency personnel were not alerted to the crash ahead of time.