Training exercises, not downed plane, reason for 19 Wing/CFB Comox aircraft in the Balfour/Proctor region Sunday
By Nelson Daily Staff
Aircraft from the 19 Wing/CFB Comox conducted training exercises north of Nelson Sunday, and were not dispatched on a search and rescue mission, said Captain Greg Clarke.
“Crews were on a training exercise all day Saturday in the Okanagan, spent the night in Kelowna and decided to do some training around Nelson as this is an area we don’t get to too often,” Clarke, air coordinator for air search and rescue, told The Nelson Daily Sunday from CFB Comox.
Reports to The Nelson Daily had the Buffalo aircraft and Cormorant helicopter along with a couple small planes flying into the mountains over Balfour and Harrop/Proctor areas.
The public was concerned that possibly the search and rescue crews were no a search and rescue mission.
“We’re responsible for search and rescue in all of B.C. and the Yukon so it’s good for crews to become familiar with the different regions of the province,” Clarke explained.
Training lasted for just over an hour before crews departed the area for the trip back to 19 Wing/CFB Comox.
19 Wing Comox is based on Vancouver Island.
Its Aurora crews keep watch over the Pacific Ocean while its search and rescue teams regularly locate downed aircraft in some of the roughest terrain B.C. and the Yukon.
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