17 Wing Winnipeg is now home to a CC-295 Kingfisher search and rescue aircraft similar to this one. (ROYAL CANADIAN AIR FORCE PHOTO)
The Royal Canadian Air Force’s new fixed-wing search and rescue aircraft, the CC-295 Kingfisher, arrived Friday at 17 Wing Winnipeg.
Personnel from 435 Transport and Rescue Squadron have been training on the CC-295 at 19 Wing Comox, B.C., with 418 Search and Rescue Operational Training Squadron, which provides qualification training for aircrew and maintainers on the new aircraft.
As training continues, the large, yellow aircraft will become a more common sight over the Winnipeg area in the coming months. During the transition, 435 Squadron will keep operating its CC-130H Hercules aircraft to maintain uninterrupted fixed-wing search and rescue coverage in the region, alongside 424 Transport and Rescue Squadron’s CC-130J Hercules based at 8 Wing Trenton, Ont.
