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Winnipeg Free Press - PRINT EDITION

Pilot escapes fiery CF-18 crash

Fighter explodes in huge fireball as it hits ground

By: Staff Writer

Posted: 07/24/2010 1:00 AM | Comments: 0 (including replies)

A CF-18 pilot was in hospital with undetermined injuries after his jet crashed during a practice run at an airshow in southern Alberta on Friday. A number of photographers captured the spectacular accident.

LETHBRIDGE, Alta. -- A training run for a weekend air show in southern Alberta went horribly awry Friday when a CF-18 Hornet jet crashed and exploded in a ball of flame.

Capt. Brian Bews from 425 Tactical Fighter Squadron based at 3 Wing in Bagotville, Que., was able to eject from the plumeting aircraft moments before it hit the runway at the Lethbridge County Airport.

"All of a sudden you could hear 'pop, pop, pop,'" witness Roland Booth told CTV News. "I saw sparks come out of the one engine. The plane started banking over to the side. That's when the pilot bailed out with his parachute."

"The pilot did eject safely but was dragged several hundred feet unconscious along the ground," said aviation buff Darren Jansens, who saw the whole sequence.

"He was just starting what they call the high alpha pass. It's a high-angle pass, very low-speed, fairly close to the ground. It's the lowest-speed manoeuvre the Hornet generally performs."

The Lethbridge Herald quoted witnesses as saying that after ejecting, the pilot narrowly missed being hit by the plane as it plunged to the ground.

Bews sustained a sore back and scraped-up arms and was treated at hospital and released Friday.

"Any time you have an injury or go through something like that, there's obvious injuries and there's injuries you don't know about until later on," said Capt. Holly Brown from 17 Wing in Winnipeg.

"At this point, we're not saying because we don't know. We just know he's alive and we're very thankful for that."

But officials with the air show suggested his injuries were not serious.

"We understand the pilot is doing really well, making jokes," said Kathy Wallocha, past president of the air show.

The CF-18 Bews was flying is specifically used for air shows and only flown in that capacity.

An investigation by officials from the military and the Department of Transport into what happened began as soon as fire and police officers cordoned off the area.

There will be no impact on CF-18 operations elsewhere in the country, 2nd Lt. Christopher Daniel said from Ottawa.

Air show president Robb Engen said the airport was closed to all incoming and outgoing flights.

Jim Reith, who controls the airspace for the air show, said there wasn't much choice.

"The airport was shut down because of the location of the incident," he said. "It was more or less at the juncture where two runways and a major taxiway intersect, so there really weren't any portions of the airport that we could still operate."

Event officials decided the air show would go ahead as planned this weekend. "The military has given us their full support to continue for the weekend," Engen said.

-- The Canadian Press

Republished from the Winnipeg Free Press print edition July 24, 2010 A3

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