A Sea King helicopter that was forced to make an emergency landing at a local First Nations community has returned to its base at the Victoria International Airport.
At around 12:30 p.m. on Oct. 8 Central Saanich Police responded to a call about a Sea King helicopter that went down on Cordova Spit at the Tsawout First Nation. Police called the incident at the time an unplanned emergency landing. Four passengers were onboard. None were injured.
According to military public affairs spokesperson Captain Cameron Hillier of 12 Wing Shearwater, aircraft technicians deemed the Sea King safe to fly to the closest heliport for further investigation. It flew back to its home base, 443 Maritime Helicopter Squadron, which is located at the Victoria airport.
“Essentially what it was is just that the pilot noticed a reading of the gage or a signal that indicated that the precautionary landing was the safest thing to do,” said Hillier.
“That’s a fairly routine operation as far as Sea King flight operations are concerned.”
Once the investigation is complete, the aircraft will be cleared and returned to normal operations with 443 Squadron.