Problem with ejection system, may cause Canada’s famous Snowbirds to be grounded on Canada Day.

Canada's Snowbirds

Ottawa: Canada’s Acrob Flying Team,the Snowbirds, the centre-piece of Canada Day Celebrations on Parliament Hill will be on the ground indefinitely.

The Department of National Defence, implement an “operational” pause Friday,because of a problem with the Injection Seat Systems used in Snowbird Jets.

The Air Force could not say, whether the Jets would be in the air time for Canada Day.

The Snowbirds didn’t perform in 1998 due to poor weather, if the planes don’t perform, the Peace Tower Flypass next month, it  will be only the second cancellation in more then two decades.

David Lavallee an Air Force spokesman said, “we are not sure how long it’s going to take, it will basically take as long as needed, to make sure, we assess the problem thoroughly, and recommend a course of action to make sure, that the Aircraft can be operated safely.

 The problem lies with the lapbelt system which is designed to disconnect should a pilot have to eject from the plane midflight.

 The same system malfunctioned in May 2007, killing Capt. Shawn McCaughey during a practice flight in Montana, McCaughey was flying upside down when his safety belt became unlatched, causing him to fall away from the controlls, He could not eject or prevent the plane from crashing. However, Lavallee said the problem is not the same this time. “I just want to underscore that this is not the same problem as has been identified with the lapbelt system in the past. It’s a different area of the system.”

The problem was discovered Saturday as the Snowbirds were in Bagotville, Que. preparing for an air show this weekend.

Read the full Story; By Tim Shufelt, The Ottawa Citizen.

OTTAWA — The Snowbirds, Canada’s iconic acrobatic flying team and the centrepiece of Canada Day celebrations on Parliament Hill, will be on the ground indefinitely.

A problem with the ejection-seat systems used in Snowbird jets prompted the Department of National Defence to implement an “operational pause,” Friday.

The air force could not say whether the jets would be in the air in time for Canada Day.

If the planes don’t perform a flypast the Peace Tower next month, it will be only the second cancellation for the team in more than two decades. The Snowbirds didn’t perform in 1998 due to poor weather.

“We’re not sure how long it’s going to last,” said David Lavallee, an air force spokesman. “It will basically take as long as it needs to take to make sure that we assess the problem thoroughly and recommend courses of action to make sure that aircraft can be operated safely.”

The problem lies with the lapbelt system which is designed to disconnect should a pilot have to eject from the plane midflight.

The same system malfunctioned in May 2007, killing Capt. Shawn McCaughey during a practice flight in Montana. McCaughey was flying upside down when his safety belt became unlatched, causing him to fall from his seat out of reach of his controls. He could not eject or prevent the plane from crashing. However, Lavallee said the problem is not the same this time. “I just want to underscore that this is not the same problem as has been identified with the lapbelt system in the past. It’s a different area of the system.”

The problem was discovered Saturday as the Snowbirds were in Bagotville, Que. preparing for an air show this weekend.

Regular pre-flight procedures detected the malfunction while the planes were still on the ground. All flights were immediately put on hold. Lavallee said, however, that the Snowbirds have not been “grounded,” at least not technically. “A grounding is more serious,” he said. “An operational pause is a temporary cessation of flying operations.”

The air force’s directorate of flight safety is conducting an investigation. Until it is complete, the Snowbirds’ fleet of CT-114 Tutors will remain on the ground, Lavallee said.

The fleet is now considered obsolete but can be flown safely until 2020, according to the Canadian Forces. A total of eight people have died as a result of Snowbird accidents, including seven pilots. The most recent fatal crash occurred last October when Capt. Bryan Mitchell and a photographer crashed in a farmer’s field, killing both. The operational pause also affects seven other aircraft, including the Hawk One F-86 Sabre a CT-133 flown by the National Research Council.

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