OTTAWA – Only four of the air force’s venerable CH-124 Sea King helicopters are due to be written off between now and the end of next March, despite last June’s splashy retirement party for the five decade-old workhorses.
National Defence is also spending more than $500,000 on a program to ensure the transition to the new CH-148 Cyclones is not a total culture shock for pilots and aircrew.
READ MORE: “Milestone” reached as government gets 6 new Cyclones
The Conservative government, which has struggled to deliver replacement maritime helicopters, went to great lengths last spring – before the election call – to demonstrate the Sea Kings could begin retiring in 2015 as promised.
It held a media event at the military air base in Shearwater, N.S., that included Diane Finley – public works minister at the time – declaring she was “delighted to begin putting these workhorses out to pasture.”
Documents obtained by The Canadian Press under the Access to Information Act indicate – as do several defence sources – that it won’t be as smooth a transition to retirement as the politicians would like.
There are approximately 26 Sea Kings still operating, and sources say the first two to be written off are already out of service – something National Defence would not confirm, saying only that four are due to retire by March 31, 2016.
WATCH: Ready or not, Sea King helicopter replacements arrive
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