The Chronicle Herald (Provincial)
First victim identified
A 23-year-old woman has been identified as the first victim of a Royal Canadian Air Force Cyclone helicopter that crashed off the coast of Greece on Wednesday.
Sub.-lt. Abbigail Cowbrough was one of six crew members — four Royal Canadian Air Force and two Royal Canadian Navy — aboard a CH-148 Cyclone helicopter when it crashed into the Ionian Sea.
At a news conference Thursday, Chief of the Defence Staff Gen. Jonanthan Vance said Cowbrough's body had been recovered, while the five other people remain missing.
“I am broken and gutted. Today, I lost my oldest daughter Abbigail Cowbrough in the crash involving the Cyclone from HMCS Fredericton,” Shane Cowbrough said in a Facebook post early Thursday morning. "There are no words. You made me forever proud."
Cowbrough's mother also expressed her grief in a Facebook post on Thursday.
“My beautiful daughter has been in a military accident and passed away,” Tanya Cowbrough said. “She will no longer pipe her songs to all those that love her.”
In a news release Thursday afternoon, Premier Stephen Mcneil expressed his condolences.
"Today, Nova Scotians are mourning another loss after a Canadian helicopter involved in Operation Reassurance with Halifax's HMCS Fredericton crashed in international waters off the coast of Greece," the premier said.
"On behalf of the entire province, I extend my sincere and heartfelt condolences to the family, friends and colleagues of Sub.-lt. Abbigail Cowbrough."
Just last week, Cowbrough posted a video of her playing the bagpipes, aboard HMCS Fredericton in Souda Bay, Crete, to honour the victims of a mass shooting in Nova Scotia on April 18 and 19.
“You can travel the world and still never meet anyone like an East Coaster. Glad to have been taken in by them, for I'd have it no other way,” Cowbrough wrote in the video's post.
“To everyone back home, thinking of you,” she said, accompanied with #Nsstrong.
Cowbrough was a member of the Union Fire Club Pipes and Drums, "a voluntary non-profit society that primarily provides musical support to the Halifax Regional Fire Service." She also was a member of the Regal Heights Baptist Church in Dartmouth.
A Gofundme page, set up by two
people who graduated with Cowbrough from the Royal Military College of Canada in 2018, is raising money to support "Abbigail's family through this incredibly difficult time in any way they need."
"This is another hard day for Halifax, for Nova Scotia and for our Armed Forces families," Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said Thursday.
HMCS Fredericton and its crew of 250 Canadian sailors and support staff left Halifax on Jan. 20 to take part in a six-month deployment in the Mediterranean Sea as part of Operation Reassurance. The frigate was equipped with a Cyclone helicopter from 12 Wing Shearwater.
The Canadian Forces confirmed on Twitter Wednesday “contact was lost with the aircraft as it was participating in Allied exercises off the coast of Greece.”
Early Thursday morning, the air force said it had
“contacted all primary family members of those who were on board the CH-148 Cyclone helicopter that was involved in an accident in the Mediterranean Sea.”
The five missing crew members are:
Capt. Brenden Ian Macdonald, pilot, originally from New Glasgow
Capt. Kevin Hagen, pilot, originally from Nanaimo, B.C.
Capt. Maxime Mironmorin, air combat systems officer, originally from Troisrivières, Qué.
Sub-lt. Matthew Pyke, naval weapons officer, originally from Truro
Master Cpl. Matthew Cousins, airborne electronic sensor operator, originally from Guelph, Ont.
A search and rescue mission responded to the crash Wednesday night and continued Thursday.
In a response to The Chronicle Herald's interview request Thursday, Shane Cowbrough said he was waiting "to confirm with her mom as to her wishes."