IL-76: A Massive Russian-built Cargo Plane
Publicado - Published: 09/06/2007
http://www.desastres.org/noticias.php?id=09062007-15
CANADA.- A massive Russian-built cargo plane laden with military equipment and other supplies from the Canadian mission in Afghanistan clipped a fence at Canadian Forces Base Trenton last week.
Ira Turcotte was sitting at home on Thursday evening when he heard the rumble of the giant IL-76 Ilyushin's engines, despite the fact that a thick fog had settled over the area.
Located on the edge of a trailer park that borders the base, Mr. Turcotte's home is perfectly situated to watch planes take off and land from CFB Trenton, about three hours south of Ottawa.
The base is one of the largest and busiest in Canada as the majority of Canadian military personnel, equipment and supplies deployed abroad leave the country here.
The military has for years contracted such planes for overseas missions as they are faster and carry more equipment than the Canadian Forces' Hercules cargo planes.
Mr. Turcotte, whose house is across the street from a retirement home and several other houses, said the Ilyushin and other privately contracted planes fly in and out of Trenton as many as five times a week.
"I usually get up to see when they come or go," Mr. Turcotte said Sunday. "But for some reason I didn't this time."
Apparently the plane's engines drowned out any sound it may have caused when it hit the top of the approximately 12-foot-tall fence as neither Mr. Turcotte nor several other residents who live nearby heard anything over the roar.
The next morning, Mr. Turcotte woke around 5 a.m. to find several emergency vehicles had converged around the fence at the end of the runway. He drove down to see that the fence had been broken, with metal poles twisted and torn.
"If it would have crashed, it would have been a big explosion," he said, the still bent and twisted fence a few hundred metres away visible from his driveway. "Thank God it didn't."
Fog Might Be Responsible
Transport Canada and the Department of National Defence have launched separate investigations to determine why the Ilyushin struck the fence, base spokeswoman Capt. Nicole Meszaros said.
"It was really foggy here," she said. "It ended up hitting the fence and knocking down a section of that fence and ended up with the barbed wire along the top of the fence becoming entangled in the landing gear."
The plane was immediately diverted to Ottawa where minor repairs were completed before it returned to Trenton to complete its delivery.
Capt. Meszaros could not say whether the foggy conditions were responsible, though it's expected the two investigations will determine the cause. At the moment, the plane is not flying.
However, she said the incident has not affected operations at the base or resupply efforts for the Canadian mission in Afghanistan.
Jan Ottens, general manager and CEO of Toronto-based Skylink Aviation, which chartered the flight, said the plane is operated by a company based out of Azerbaijan.
The military is currently planning to expand CFB Trenton. Not only has more land been bought to facilitate the growth, but four new C-17 Globemaster transports and a new fleet of Hercules aircraft have been purchased. As a result, it's expected the number of private aircraft being contracted for military operations will decrease.
In addition, there are reports that the elite Joint Task Force 2 unit will be relocated from its Dwyer Hill base outside Ottawa to the area.