One Canadian military member is dead and five others are missing after a helicopter serving with a NATO naval task force crashed in international waters between Greece and Italy on Wednesday, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau confirmed today.
Four Royal Canadian Air Force members and two Royal Canadian Navy members were on board at the time.
“All of them are heroes. Each of them will leave a void that cannot be filled,” Trudeau said.
Later on Thursday, the defence department identified those still missing:
Capt. Brenden MacDonald, a pilot originally from New Glasgow, Nova Scotia.
Capt. Kevin Hagen, a pilot originally from Nanaimo, British Columbia.
Capt. Maxime Miron-Morin, an air combat systems officer originally from Trois-Rivières, Québec.
Sub-Lt. Matthew Pyke, a naval warfare officer originally from Truro, Nova Scotia.
Master Cpl. Matthew Cousins, an airborne electronic sensor operator originally from Guelph, Ontario.
Clockwise from top left: Capt. Kevin Hagen, Sub-Lt. Abbigail Cowbrough, Capt. Brenden Ian MacDonald, Master Cpl. Matthew Cousins, Sub-Lt. Matthew Pyke, Capt. Maxime Miron-Morin. (Department of National Defence)
Trudeau acknowledged that today is another “very hard day” for Nova Scotia — still grieving the victims of a gun massacre — and for all Canadians.
The six members were on a six-month deployment that began in January.
There will be many questions in the coming days about how the tragedy occurred, Trudeau said.
“I can assure you, we will get answers in due course.”
Ships from Canada, Italy and Turkey, with air support from Greece and the U.S., are searching for the CH-148 Cyclone helicopter.
Rear Admiral Craig Baines, maritime commander for the Royal Canadian Navy, thanked allies for their “steadfast” support as he provided an update on rescue efforts late Thursday.
Watch: Royal Canadian Navy maritime commander provides update on search efforts
Rear-Admiral Craig Baines, commander of Maritime Command Component, says searchers have found debris from the crashed helicopter but it’s still “too early to know what happened.” 0:45
Baines said the search will continue through the night. He said weather conditions have been good so far, but the process becomes more challenging as the search area widens.
“A search on the ocean is always very difficult, even in relatively calm conditions. Very small objects in the water are very difficult to find over long periods of time as wind and current expands the search area,” he said.
“So even in perfect conditions it is a difficult thing to do a search on the water. But they are continuing, and they will continue to search as long as they still believe there is an opportunity to find survivors.”
Baines said some debris related to the chopper has been found but it’s too early to say what may have happened.
Watch: Trudeau responds to Canadian military helicopter crash near Greece
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau confirms that a military helicopter on a NATO mission that crashed off the coast of Greece was carrying six members of the Canadian Armed Forces. 1:55
Chief of the Defence Staff Gen. Jonathan Vance said the Cyclone fleet has been put on “operational pause” temporarily to allow flight safety teams to investigate and rule out any fleet-wide problems. He added the helicopter fleet is modern and has “state-of-the-art” technology.
“We have a lot of confidence in this fleet,” he said.
“These are … superbly trained crews, pilots, electronic systems operators and so on. It’s a powerful helicopter with fantastic sensing capability and it’s about to go through a second block of upgrades to integrate that sensing capability.”
Location of wreckage not known
Vance said the crash’s debris area is large and the exact position of the wreckage is not yet known. The cockpit voice and flight data recorders broke away from the helicopter with a beacon and have been retrieved, he said.
They will brought to the National Research Council for analysis.
Vance said the helicopter was returning to HMCS Fredericton when it crashed. At about 6:52 p.m. local time, the ship lost contact with the air crew. A few minutes later, automatic flares were spotted in the water.
“This is a time of agony for all families, friends, and fellow crew members. There is nothing worse than sending your shipmates over the horizon and losing contact,” he said.
Watch: Gen. Jonathan Vance provides details on the fatal navy helicopter crash
Chief of the Defence Staff General Jonathan Vance spoke to reporters on Parliament Hill on Thursday. 3:56
Vance said the goal of the operation is to warn Russia and other adversaries not to interfere with European or North Atlantic security, and to assure allies “that we are all in this together.”
At the time of the accident, the group was conducting training – not surveillance or targeted operations, he said.
“We can’t rule anything out, but I’m quite certain from a military situation, this was not a function of contact or a shootdown. I want to make that abundantly clear,” he said.
Cause of crash unknown
Defence Minister Harjit Sajjan said the cause of the crash remains unknown.
“I’ve had a number of conversations with the secretary general of NATO. We remain in contact with Italy, Greece, the United States and Turkey, who are assisting us in the search and rescue efforts to help us find the Canadian Armed Forces members who were on the helicopter,” he said.
Sajjan said an investigative team is en route to the region to get answers.
The helicopter was based on HMCS Fredericton, which recently sailed from Souda, Greece, as part of a “mission of maritime situational awareness in the Mediterranean,” including exercises with the Turkish Navy and Greece’s Hellenic Navy and Air Force this past week, NATO said.
“As announced, 1 CAF member is deceased & 5 missing following a helicopter crash in the Ionian Sea. On behalf of the entire CAF I send our deepest condolences to her family, friends & shipmates. May her memory be a source of comfort & inspiration to us all. We will remember.” JV <a href=”https://t.co/liB5KFnBgE”>pic.twitter.com/liB5KFnBgE</a>
Vance said the military has been in touch with next of kin.
“In a season of grief – a time of hardship, heartbreak and loss for so many Canadians – the men and women of the Canadian Armed Forces stand tall,” he said. “Bearing the maple leaf on their shoulders, they are known around the world as beacons of civility, compassion and courage.”
The search continues for five Canadian military members and the navy helicopter they were on that crashed in international waters between Greece and Italy Wednesday. (Turkish Ministry of National Defence/Twitter)
Conservative Leader Andrew Scheer expressed his condolences to family members and the military community.
“Any loss of life within Canada’s proud military is a tragic event, one that is deeply felt by all Canadians. I don’t doubt, though, that this loss will be particularly difficult for Nova Scotians, as HMCS Fredericton is based out of Halifax,” he said in a media statement.
“I would like to thank all the men and women serving during Operation Reassurance, Canada’s largest current international military operation, who are helping make Central and Eastern Europe more stable and secure.”
The Canadian Forces has confirmed contact was lost with a Canadian CH-148 Cyclone helicopter taking part in NATO operations in the Mediterranean. (CBC News)
NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh said he’s saddened by the news and sends his love and support to the family and friends of Cowbrough and the missing military members.
NDP defence critic Randall Garrison called it “devastating” news for the military community and for all Canadians.
“Today, we mourn the loss of Ms. Abbigail Cowbrough and send our support to her family during this difficult time. To the families of those still unaccounted for: You are in our thoughts. We’re hopeful that the investigation into this tragedy happens quickly and efficiently so that you can have the answers you need,” he said.
Lt-Gen. Al Meinzinger, commander of the Royal Canadian Air Force, and Vice-Admiral Art McDonald, commander of the Royal Canadian Navy, issued a joint statement Thursday afternoon,
“There are no words to describe a loss as tragic as this,” the statement reads.
“This incident serves as a difficult reminder of the sacrifice that our brave men and women face daily while defending and representing our nation, both at home and abroad.
“It also serves to remind us all how dangerous even routine operations at-sea and in the air can be. In the face of these realities, the sailors and aviators aboard Navy frigates operate as one team – one family – a family that today mourns together.”
Greece expresses grief
Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis spoke about the crash in the nation’s parliament Thursday.
“I express my grief over the crash of the Canadian helicopter in the Ionian Sea last night,” he said.
Mitsotakis said he would contact Trudeau personally to express his condolences.
Watch: Gen. Jonathan Vance describes the emotional impact of the Cyclone crash on serving members
Chief of the Defence Staff Gen. Jonathan Vance spoke about a “time of agony” for the Canadian Armed Forces and family members of those who were on board the military helicopter that crashed off the coast of Greece. 0:56
The crash occurred in the Ionian Sea about 80 kilometres off the Greek resort island of Cephalonia.
The Cyclone is a militarized version of the Sikorsky S-92 utility helicopter.
The Cyclones replaced the air force’s five-decade-old CH-124 Sea Kings, which were gradually retired from service over the last few years. The crash of a Cyclone represents a major blow, given how long the military had to wait for the aircraft to be developed.
Cost escalations
Originally ordered in 2004, the Cyclone program faced delays and cost escalations — to the point where former auditor general Sheila Fraser slammed the federal government’s handling of the project in 2010.
The Cyclone routinely flies with a crew of four: two pilots, a tactical operator and a sensor operator. It also has room for several passengers. The helicopter’s primary mission is hunting submarines, but it has a sophisticated surveillance suite and is also outfitted for search-and-rescue.
HMCS Fredericton had recently sailed from Souda, Greece. (The Canadian Press)
Since coming into service, the Cyclone has been deployed on five overseas missions with the navy, including previous NATO stints.
The air force has praised the aircraft’s capabilities repeatedly — although it was involved in at least one shipboard accident while serving with HMCS Regina and the resupply ship MV Asterix in the Pacific Ocean last year.
A Cyclone suffered what defence officials described at the time as a “hard landing” aboard the Asterix on Feb. 18, 2019.
Vance said today that incident was caused by a strong gust of wind, not a mechanical issue.
NEW YORK (AP) — The U.S. syphilis epidemic slowed dramatically last year, gonorrhea cases fell and chlamydia cases remained below prepandemic levels, according to federal data released Tuesday.
The numbers represented some good news about sexually transmitted diseases, which experienced some alarming increases in past years due to declining condom use, inadequate sex education, and reduced testing and treatment when the COVID-19 pandemic hit.
Last year, cases of the most infectious stages of syphilis fell 10% from the year before — the first substantial decline in more than two decades. Gonorrhea cases dropped 7%, marking a second straight year of decline and bringing the number below what it was in 2019.
“I’m encouraged, and it’s been a long time since I felt that way” about the nation’s epidemic of sexually transmitted infections, said the CDC’s Dr. Jonathan Mermin. “Something is working.”
More than 2.4 million cases of syphilis, gonorrhea and chlamydia were diagnosed and reported last year — 1.6 million cases of chlamydia, 600,000 of gonorrhea, and more than 209,000 of syphilis.
Syphilis is a particular concern. For centuries, it was a common but feared infection that could deform the body and end in death. New cases plummeted in the U.S. starting in the 1940s when infection-fighting antibiotics became widely available, and they trended down for a half century after that. By 2002, however, cases began rising again, with men who have sex with other men being disproportionately affected.
The new report found cases of syphilis in their early, most infectious stages dropped 13% among gay and bisexual men. It was the first such drop since the agency began reporting data for that group in the mid-2000s.
However, there was a 12% increase in the rate of cases of unknown- or later-stage syphilis — a reflection of people infected years ago.
Cases of syphilis in newborns, passed on from infected mothers, also rose. There were nearly 4,000 cases, including 279 stillbirths and infant deaths.
“This means pregnant women are not being tested often enough,” said Dr. Jeffrey Klausner, a professor of medicine at the University of Southern California.
What caused some of the STD trends to improve? Several experts say one contributor is the growing use of an antibiotic as a “morning-after pill.” Studies have shown that taking doxycycline within 72 hours of unprotected sex cuts the risk of developing syphilis, gonorrhea and chlamydia.
In June, the CDC started recommending doxycycline as a morning-after pill, specifically for gay and bisexual men and transgender women who recently had an STD diagnosis. But health departments and organizations in some cities had been giving the pills to people for a couple years.
Some experts believe that the 2022 mpox outbreak — which mainly hit gay and bisexual men — may have had a lingering effect on sexual behavior in 2023, or at least on people’s willingness to get tested when strange sores appeared.
Another factor may have been an increase in the number of health workers testing people for infections, doing contact tracing and connecting people to treatment. Congress gave $1.2 billion to expand the workforce over five years, including $600 million to states, cities and territories that get STD prevention funding from CDC.
Last year had the “most activity with that funding throughout the U.S.,” said David Harvey, executive director of the National Coalition of STD Directors.
However, Congress ended the funds early as a part of last year’s debt ceiling deal, cutting off $400 million. Some people already have lost their jobs, said a spokeswoman for Harvey’s organization.
Still, Harvey said he had reasons for optimism, including the growing use of doxycycline and a push for at-home STD test kits.
Also, there are reasons to think the next presidential administration could get behind STD prevention. In 2019, then-President Donald Trump announced a campaign to “eliminate” the U.S. HIV epidemic by 2030. (Federal health officials later clarified that the actual goal was a huge reduction in new infections — fewer than 3,000 a year.)
There were nearly 32,000 new HIV infections in 2022, the CDC estimates. But a boost in public health funding for HIV could also also help bring down other sexually transmitted infections, experts said.
“When the government puts in resources, puts in money, we see declines in STDs,” Klausner said.
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The Associated Press Health and Science Department receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute’s Science and Educational Media Group. The AP is solely responsible for all content.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Scientists can’t know precisely when a volcano is about to erupt, but they can sometimes pick up telltale signs.
That happened two years ago with the world’s largest active volcano. About two months before Mauna Loa spewed rivers of glowing orange molten lava, geologists detected small earthquakes nearby and other signs, and they warned residents on Hawaii‘s Big Island.
Now a study of the volcano’s lava confirms their timeline for when the molten rock below was on the move.
“Volcanoes are tricky because we don’t get to watch directly what’s happening inside – we have to look for other signs,” said Erik Klemetti Gonzalez, a volcano expert at Denison University, who was not involved in the study.
Upswelling ground and increased earthquake activity near the volcano resulted from magma rising from lower levels of Earth’s crust to fill chambers beneath the volcano, said Kendra Lynn, a research geologist at the Hawaiian Volcano Observatory and co-author of a new study in Nature Communications.
When pressure was high enough, the magma broke through brittle surface rock and became lava – and the eruption began in late November 2022. Later, researchers collected samples of volcanic rock for analysis.
The chemical makeup of certain crystals within the lava indicated that around 70 days before the eruption, large quantities of molten rock had moved from around 1.9 miles (3 kilometers) to 3 miles (5 kilometers) under the summit to a mile (2 kilometers) or less beneath, the study found. This matched the timeline the geologists had observed with other signs.
The last time Mauna Loa erupted was in 1984. Most of the U.S. volcanoes that scientists consider to be active are found in Hawaii, Alaska and the West Coast.
Worldwide, around 585 volcanoes are considered active.
Scientists can’t predict eruptions, but they can make a “forecast,” said Ben Andrews, who heads the global volcano program at the Smithsonian Institution and who was not involved in the study.
Andrews compared volcano forecasts to weather forecasts – informed “probabilities” that an event will occur. And better data about the past behavior of specific volcanos can help researchers finetune forecasts of future activity, experts say.
(asterisk)We can look for similar patterns in the future and expect that there’s a higher probability of conditions for an eruption happening,” said Klemetti Gonzalez.
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The Associated Press Health and Science Department receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute’s Science and Educational Media Group. The AP is solely responsible for all content.
Waymo on Tuesday opened its robotaxi service to anyone who wants a ride around Los Angeles, marking another milestone in the evolution of self-driving car technology since the company began as a secret project at Google 15 years ago.
The expansion comes eight months after Waymo began offering rides in Los Angeles to a limited group of passengers chosen from a waiting list that had ballooned to more than 300,000 people. Now, anyone with the Waymo One smartphone app will be able to request a ride around an 80-square-mile (129-square-kilometer) territory spanning the second largest U.S. city.
After Waymo received approval from California regulators to charge for rides 15 months ago, the company initially chose to launch its operations in San Francisco before offering a limited service in Los Angeles.
Before deciding to compete against conventional ride-hailing pioneers Uber and Lyft in California, Waymo unleashed its robotaxis in Phoenix in 2020 and has been steadily extending the reach of its service in that Arizona city ever since.
Driverless rides are proving to be more than just a novelty. Waymo says it now transports more than 50,000 weekly passengers in its robotaxis, a volume of business numbers that helped the company recently raise $5.6 billion from its corporate parent Alphabet and a list of other investors that included venture capital firm Andreesen Horowitz and financial management firm T. Rowe Price.
“Our service has matured quickly and our riders are embracing the many benefits of fully autonomous driving,” Waymo co-CEO Tekedra Mawakana said in a blog post.
Despite its inroads, Waymo is still believed to be losing money. Although Alphabet doesn’t disclose Waymo’s financial results, the robotaxi is a major part of an “Other Bets” division that had suffered an operating loss of $3.3 billion through the first nine months of this year, down from a setback of $4.2 billion at the same time last year.
But Waymo has come a long way since Google began working on self-driving cars in 2009 as part of project “Chauffeur.” Since its 2016 spinoff from Google, Waymo has established itself as the clear leader in a robotaxi industry that’s getting more congested.
Electric auto pioneer Tesla is aiming to launch a rival “Cybercab” service by 2026, although its CEO Elon Musk said he hopes the company can get the required regulatory clearances to operate in Texas and California by next year.
Tesla’s projected timeline for competing against Waymo has been met with skepticism because Musk has made unfulfilled promises about the company’s self-driving car technology for nearly a decade.
Meanwhile, Waymo’s robotaxis have driven more than 20 million fully autonomous miles and provided more than 2 million rides to passengers without encountering a serious accident that resulted in its operations being sidelined.
That safety record is a stark contrast to one of its early rivals, Cruise, a robotaxi service owned by General Motors. Cruise’s California license was suspended last year after one of its driverless cars in San Francisco dragged a jaywalking pedestrian who had been struck by a different car driven by a human.
Cruise is now trying to rebound by joining forces with Uber to make some of its services available next year in U.S. cities that still haven’t been announced. But Waymo also has forged a similar alliance with Uber to dispatch its robotaxi in Atlanta and Austin, Texas next year.
Another robotaxi service, Amazon’s Zoox, is hoping to begin offering driverless rides to the general public in Las Vegas at some point next year before also launching in San Francisco.
