Civil Air Search and Rescue Association
conducts large-scale mock exercise in Cape Breton
There were about 30 people involved in the weekend mock exercise, which took Provincial Training Officer Olivier Beyer about three months to organize.
Flight crews and ground crews from the Halifax Zone, Debert Zone and members of the association from Prince Edward Island also participated in the exercise.
Before each flight on Saturday through the use of flight plans and meticulous inspection of the Cessna 172 search plane, it was clear safety was the number one priority.
Fred Sampson; Deputy Commander of the Sydney Zone, says “even with adrenaline pumping as a search and rescue mission begins, it’s important to slow down and take a step back to review all safety procedures. We have to look after our own safety and well-being before we can help anybody else. We don’t want to lose valuable time when looking for somebody due to us not being properly prepared to undertake a safe and successful search”.
Fred Sampson; Deputy Commander of the Sydney Zone, says “even with adrenaline pumping as a search and rescue mission begins, it’s important to slow down and take a step back to review all safety procedures. We have to look after our own safety and well-being before we can help anybody else. We don’t want to lose valuable time when looking for somebody due to us not being properly prepared to undertake a safe and successful search”.
During the morning briefing for the search crews, the association’s Provincial Training Officer Olivier Beyer
said it was a father and daughter who had gone missing after leaving Little Lorraine in their yellow Cessna 206 float-plane with black and red stripes. It was clear at the time but fog quickly moved in and communication was lost shortly thereafter.
Scanning across the rugged shoreline from Little Lorraine to Gabarus, Tim Morrissey could see a fleck of white through the thick forest from the window of a Cessna 172 search plane.
It took only 25 minutes into the search for Morrissey to spot the debris near the Louisbourg lighthouse. The plane had left the Sydney J.A. Douglas McCurdy Airport with a flight plan that would have lasted close to an hour.
During a debriefing following the successful search, spotter Tim Morrissey, pilot Roger Cormier and navigator
Jim Sophocleous explained to provincial training officer
Olivier Beyer how they found the mock aircraft.
To view the article regarding this event in the Cape Breton Post, click here.
A special thanks goes out to The Cape Breton Post and Chris Shannon
for covering our event and for allowing us to use their article and pictures on this website.
for covering our event and for allowing us to use their article and pictures on this website.