A Delta Airlines CRJ 900 LR crashed on landing at Pearson Airport (YYZ) just outside of Toronto this afternoon. The incident occurred at 1413 local time. The flight originated in Minneapolis. As of this writing, three hours after the incident, there are no fatalities among the 80 passengers and crew but 8 people were injured.
Early speculation points to the weather being a factor. Pearson Airport had severe winds with gusts up to 33 miles per hour at the time of the crash. The aircraft came to rest upside down on the runway.
The Bombardier CRJ-900LR is owned by Endeavour Air, who flies short haul routes for Delta. This aircraft type has a very good safety record and is popular with regional and short haul airlines.
“The [National Transportation Safety Board] is leading a team of U.S. investigators to assist the Transportation Safety Board of Canada with their investigation of today’s accident of a Delta Air Lines Bombardier CRJ900 at Toronto Pearson International Airport,” NTSB said in a statement. “Per international protocols under the International Civil Aviation Organization’s Annex 13, any information about the investigation will be released by the Transportation Safety Board of Canada.”
The Airport has reopened for traffic as of 1730 local.
(Top row, left to right) Capt. Benjamin Moulton, 27, of Emmett, Idaho, a CH-53E helicopter pilot; Capt. Miguel Nava, 28, of Traverse City, Michigan, a CH-53E helicopter pilot; (Bottom row, left to right) Capt. Jack Casey, 26, of Dover, New Hampshire, a CH-53E helicopter pilot; Lance Cpl. Donovan Davis, 21, of Olathe, Kansas, a CH-53E helicopter crew chief; Sgt. Alec Langen, 23, of Chandler, Arizona, a CH-53E helicopter crew chief. (Photo courtesy of U.S. Marines)
The 3rd Marine Air Wing has identified the 5 Marines killed in a CH-53 crash on Tuesday.
Lance Cpl. Donovan Davis, 21, of Olathe, Kansas, enlisted in 2019, and was promoted to the rank of lance corporal on Jan.1 and served as a CH-53E helicopter crew chief.
Sgt. Alec Langen, 23, of Chandler, Arizona, enlisted in 2017, was promoted to sergeant in 2022 and served as a CH-53E helicopter crew chief.
Capt. Benjamin Moulton, 27, of Emmett, Idaho, commissioned in the Marine Corps in 2019 and achieved the rank of Captain in 2023. He was a CH-53E helicopter pilot.
Capt. Jack Casey, 26, of Dover, New Hampshire, commissioned in 2019, and was promoted to the rank of captain in 2023 and was a CH-53E helicopter pilot.
Capt. Miguel Nava, 28, of Traverse City, Michigan, commissioned in 2017, was promoted to captain in 2021 and served as a CH-53E helicopter pilot.
“We have been confronted with a tragedy that is every service family’s worst fear,” Lt. Col. Nicholas J. Harvey, commanding officer of the squadron, said in the statement. “Our top priority now is supporting the families of our fallen heroes, and we ask for your respect and understanding as they grieve.”
The CH-53 Super Stallion heavy-lift helicopter was en-route from Creech Air Force Base in Clark County, Nevada, to MCAS Miramar, California when the aircraft went down near Pine Valley, California.
Featured Image: Oswego NY harbor lighthouse in winter. For reference, the breakwall that the wave is breaking over is 15′ tall.
Putin’s war in Ukraine is now in week 97. It started as a 3 week special military operation. Of late, mainly because of the bezdorizhzhia, or time of roadlessness, there has been little movement on the front lines. Ukraine is waging deep battle far behind the front lines and shaping the battlefield for winter. The Russians are continuing their terror missile and drone attacks on civilian targets. Of note is the fact that of 10 Kinzhal ‘hypersonic’ missiles fired at Ukraine on New Years Day, all 10 were intercepted by the US/Western supplied PAC3 Patriot ADA system.
Every Ukrainian downing of Russian hypersonic Kh-47M2 Kinzhal with the Patriot missiles will improve the Patriot missile intercept algorithm – and increase accuracy for all Patriot systems, a benefit for the US, the rest of NATO, and other Patriot AD users. The same goes for any… pic.twitter.com/u9Pni5Gt1J
I know some of you out there disagree with me on the Ukraine situation, but the simple fact is all of the foot dragging by the collective west is dragging us closer and closer to WWIII. And no, that is not hyperbole. Xi, the Ayatollahs, Kim in NK and to a lesser degree Putin all see the lack of resolve in Ukraine as weakness. Weakness they can and will exploit.
South Korea ordered the evacuation of a pair of islands near the maritime border with the North. The evacuation of Yeonpyeong-do and Baeknyeong-do was ordered in response to North Korea firing some 200 artillery rounds into the maritime buffer zone near one of the islands.
The blue line, the Northern Limit line was established as part of the 1953 armistice. In 1999, the North unilaterally claimed the waters between the blue and red lines on the map. This week’s events were set into motion by a North Korean ship crossing the Northern Limit Line on Monday and being turned back by South Korean troops firing warning shots. North Korea later said it conducted firing drills as a “natural response” to military actions by South Korea’s “military gangsters” in recent days. It also threatened an “unprecedented strong response” if Seoul continued to make provocative moves.
Huh, didn’t I just mention Kim above? While artillery exchanges are not unknown in that particular area, what’s different this time is the stated posture of the Norks regarding the ROKs. In remarks to a major party meeting last week, Kim Jung Un said Pyongyang was changing its policy towards the South, which it now sees as an enemy state. Although, I wouldn’t be surprised if the change is a response to the lack-of-response by the ROK and US regarding the dozens of ballistic missile tests this year.
Indian navy commandos responded to a distress call in the Arabian Sea today. The MV Lila Norfolk, a 170000 DWT Liberian flagged bulker, was boarded by pirates off the Somali coast. The crew retreated to the ‘citadel’ and called for help. The commandos were from the Indian naval warship INS Chennai. They boarded and ‘sanitized’ the vessel after flying over from the Chennai.
— United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) (@UK_MTO) January 4, 2024
I’m guessing the Indian response was mainly because Indian nationals made up the bulk of the crew of the Lila Norfolk. Then again, it might be that Modi understands that if trade gets choked off in the Red/Suez it’s going to tank the Indian economy. Either way, the goddamned Indians have had a better response than the US so far.
Abu Taqwa Al Si’adi, the commander of Harakat Hezbollah al Nujaba, a powerful Iranian-backed militia based in Iraq and Syria was killed in an airstrike yesterday. Si’adi also served as the deputy director of operations for the Popular Mobilization Forces in what is known as the Baghdad Belts, or the regions surrounding Baghdad.
Thursday’s strike marked just the seventh by the U.S. against the Iranian-backed militias, which have launched 115 attack on U.S. bases in Iraq and Syria since Hamas attacked Israel on Oct. 7, 2023. The first six U.S. attacks targeted weapons storage facilities, safe houses or vehicles involved in attacks. This was the first to target a commander of the militias.
The U.S. military did not officially confirm the strike, however an anonymous official toldThe Wall Street Journal that the target “had American blood on his hands.”
Oh no, anyway. . .
The keyword for this administration seems to be ‘proportionality’, at least in the Middle East. I would think that means there should have been 115 airstrikes not 7.
“An Air Force B-1B Lancer assigned to Ellsworth Air Force Base crashed at approximately 5:50 p.m. today while attempting to land on the installation. At the time of the accident, it was on a training mission. There were four aircrew on board. All four ejected safely.
A board of officers will investigate the accident.
Additional details will be provided as they become available. For questions regarding this incident, contact the 28th Bomb Wing Public Affairs Office at (605) 385-5056, or by e-mail at 28bw.public.affairs@us.af.mil.“
The Bone has suffered from a number of class A mishaps recently and the entire fleet was grounded in 2019 due to an ejection system issue.
Look, all aircraft are one minor failure away from succumbing to gravity. The more complex the airframe is, the more likely it is that something will go wrong. That said, given that a pretty good portion of the B1 fleet is sitting at the boneyard at Davis-Monthan for financial reasons, I think there might be some maintenance issues.
Got a comment about any of the stories here? Got a story you want to share or get my take on? Let us know in the comments below.
I refrained from jumping in on this story, at least publicly, until now. That was mostly because of a lack of data for me to comment intelligently.
What we know for sure
We know that the missing jet was a Marine F-35 B (The ‘B’ model is the VTOL variant) from MCAS Beaufort. The single-seat fighter assigned to “The Warlords” of Marine Fighter Attack Training Squadron (VMFAT) 501 went down north of Charleston, S.C., after taking off from nearby Marine Corps Air Station Beaufort.
The pilot ejected from the aircraft at an altitude of approximately 1,000 feet and one mile north of the Charleston International Airport. The pilot then landed safely in a residential backyard. The pilot, whose name has not been released, had no major injuries and was in stable condition before being discharged from a local hospital. No civilian injuries have been reported from the incident.
After a lengthy search the debris field from the crash was located.
BREAKING: The missing F-35 has been found.
US military personnel, in close coordination with local authorities, have located a debris field in Williamsburg County, two hours northeast of Joint Base Charleston. pic.twitter.com/5EyaB4RxAm
“The debris was discovered two hours northeast of Joint Base Charleston,” reads a statement from Joint Base Charleston, S.C., “Teams from Joint Base Charleston, Marine Corps Air Station Beaufort, the 2nd Marine Aircraft Wing out of MCAS Cherry Point, Navy Region Southeast, the FAA, the Civil Air Patrol, as well as local, county, and state law enforcement across South Carolina have been working together to locate the U.S. Marine Corps F-35B.”
Flight path of FOXX840, a Navy UC-12 Huron ELINT aircraft. The missing F-35 was found in that approximate area.
What we might know
There have been several unconfirmed reports that the pilot engaged the auto-pilot before ejecting. I have to stress that those reports are, as of now, unconfirmed. If and when those reports are confirmed, I would like to know why. I can think of at least one reason, and that was because the craft was over a populated area, but that is just rank speculation.
There have also been reports that the transponder, a radio device that broadcasts the location of the jet to air traffic control, was either inoperable or off. While it is not uncommon for US military flight to have the transponder off, it is not common for a military flight to take off with an inoperable transponder.
What we don’t know
At this point, three days after the crash, we still do not know why the pilot ejected. Was there a major systems malfunction? Did the pilot go all Leeroy Jenkins? We also do not know why it took so long to find the debris field. Hopefully we’ll get answers to those questions sometime soon.
Some more stuff
The Marines have called an Aviation stand-down.
Following three Class-A aviation mishaps over the last six weeks, Acting Commandant of the Marine Corps, Gen. Eric M. Smith, directed all Marine Corps aviation units to conduct a two-day stand down in operations this week to discuss aviation safety matters and best practices.
During the stand down, aviation commanders will lead discussions with their Marines focusing on the fundamentals of safe flight operations, ground safety, maintenance and flight procedures, and maintaining combat readiness. This stand down is being taken to ensure the service is maintaining operational standardization of combat-ready aircraft with well-prepared pilots and crews.
This stand down invests time and energy in reinforcing the Marine aviation community’s established policies, practices and procedures and ensures Marine Corps remains a ready and highly-trained fighting force.
For media queries on the recent F-35B mishap, contact 2nd Marine Aircraft Wing Communication Strategy and Operations at 2ndmawcommstrat@usmc.mil.
For updates on the ongoing search and recovery operations for the F-35B, contact Joint Base Charleston Public Affairs at 843-963-5608 or https://www.jbcharleston.jb.mil/Contact-Us/.
The other two Class A mishaps were the Aug. 24 crash that killed Maj. Andrew Mettler who was piloting a F/A-18D Hornet during a training flight originating from MCAS Miramar, Calif and the MV-22 crash on Melville Island off the coast of northern Australia, that killed Maj. Tobin Lewis, Capt. Eleanor LeBeau and Cpl. Spencer Collart. Five other Marines were hospitalized.
The Military classifies ‘mishaps’ based on the dollar value of the damage and whether or not someone died. A Class A mishap is when the loss exceeds $2m and/or someone loses their life as a result of the mishap.
There are reports coming out about a military plane crash near El Centro NAS in California. It is initially believed to be a V-22 Opsrey. The Navy, Marine Corps and Air Force all operate versions of that airframe. It is believed that all five crew members have died in the crash.
Additional radio traffic indicates at least four people are dead as a result of a military aircraft crash in the Imperial County area of California near Highway 78. Rescue teams are still searching for a 5th person that remains unaccounted.
Imperial County officials are assuming all five people aboard a crashed military aircraft near Highway 78 are deceased. It’s unknown what caused the aircraft to crash at this time. Additional details about nuclear material aboard are not known. The military now has the scene.
Naval Air Facility El Centro has confirmed it was a V-22 Osprey operated by the 3rd MAW. The base also indicated there was no Nuclear materials on the flight.
This is a breaking story and will be updated as more details become available.
Two Special Operations soldiers were killed and three injured when a Blackhawk helicopter crashed on San Clemente Island on Friday.
“An element of U.S. Army Special Operations Command was conducting routine training in the vicinity of Coronado, California, on August 27, when an aircraft incident occurred,” the spokesperson said in a statement. “Two Soldiers were killed and three were injured. The area has been secured and an investigation into the incident is underway. More information will be released 24-hours following next of kin notification. Our sincere condolences go out the families and friends of the deceased. We thank you for not contacting them during this difficult time.”
An anonymous DOD official with knowledge of the crash said it involved the 160th SOAR.
The victims have not been identified pending notification of the next of kin.
Update: The Army has identified the soldiers killed in the crash. They are Staff Sgt. Vincent P. Marketta, 33, of Brick, New Jersey, and Sgt. Tyler M. Shelton, 22, of San Bernardino, California.
SSG Vincent Marketta, L, and Sgt Tyler Shelton
“The loss of Staff Sgt. Marketta and Sgt. Shelton has left a scar in this Regiment that will never completely heal,” said Col. Andrew R. Graham, commander of the 160th Special Operations Aviation Regiment (Airborne), according to the media release. “Their level of dedication to the 160th SOAR (A) and their exemplary service in the Army is the embodiment of what it means to be a Night Stalker and a Soldier.”
Marketta’s awards and decorations include the Distinguished Flying Cross; Air Medal with “V” device; Air Medal with “C” device; Air Medal; Army Commendation Medal with C device (2OLC); Army Commendation Medal; Army Achievement Medal (1OLC); Army Good Conduct Medal; Afghanistan Campaign Medal (campaign star); Inherent Resolve Campaign Medal; Global War on Terrorism Service Medal; Global War on Terrorism Expeditionary Medal; Noncommissioned Officer Professional Development Ribbon (numeral 2); Army Service Ribbon; NATO Medal; Combat Action Badge; and the Basic Aviator’s Badge.
Shelton’s awards and decorations include the Army Good Conduct Medal; Afghanistan Campaign Medal (campaign star); Global War on Terrorism Service Medal; Noncommissioned Officer Professional Development Ribbon; Army Service Ribbon; and the Basic Aviator’s Badge.
Both Marketta and Shelton will receive the Meritorious Service Medal posthumously,
Around 12,000 bottles of Templeton Rye whiskey wound up all over U.S. Highway 71 in Missouri, near the Arkansas border. The truck carrying the precious cargo crashed, spilling the sweet nectar everywhere.
The crash happened about 4:45 AM as the semi failed to navigate a slight curve, went off the right side of the road striking two signs, over correcting and then rolling. The trailer was breached as it struck the signs scattering debris across the road and into the ditch. The wreckage blocked both the southbound lanes.
The driver, a female from Georgia, was uninjured according to the police. The clean up crew finished by early afternoon. No word on whether any of the whiskey was salvaged.
