The crew of Canadian frigate HMCS Fredericton held a ceremony in the Italian port city of Taranto on Sunday to honour six members of its helicopter crew who died last week when their CH-148 Cyclone crashed into the Meditarrenean Sea killing all aboard.
Crew members led by the ship’s chaplain Capt. Brenda Zwicker carried the coffin with the remains of Sub-Lt. Abbigail Cowbrough from the ship as the entire crew stood at attention during the departure ceremony.
The Disembarkation Ceremony was also attended by Canada’s ambassador in Italy Alexandra Bugailiskis, Lt.-Gen. Omer Lavoie, Deputy Commander of JFC Naples, as well as Rear Admiral Paolo Pezzutti, Commander of 2nd Naval Division based in Taranto, Italy who attended as a representative of the Italian Navy.
Cowbrough’s body was recovered shortly after the helicopter plunged into the Ionian Sea between Greece and Italy last Wednesday during a NATO training exercise that also included Italian and Turkish naval vessels.
The remains of her crewmates Capt. Brenden Ian MacDonald, Capt. Kevin Hagen, Capt. Maxime Miron-Morin, Sub-Lt. Matthew Pyke and Master Cpl. Matthew Cousins have not been recovered yet but their departure was also symbolically recognized during the ceremony.
Starting from top left: Sub-Lt. Abbigail Cowbrough, a Maritime Systems Engineering Officer; Sub-Lt. Matthew Pyke, Naval Warfare Officer; Master Cpl. Matthew Cousins, Airborne Electronic Sensor Operator; Capt. Maxime Miron-Morin, Air Combat Systems Officer; Capt. Kevin Hagen, Pilot; Capt. Brenden Ian MacDonald, Pilot. (Canadian Armed Forces)
Cowbrough’s remains are expected to depart Italy via Canadian military aircraft in the coming days, the military said.
There will be a formal ceremony held at Canadian Forces Base Trenton for all six fallen members at 2:30 pm EST on May 6. The ceremony will also be livestreamed on the Canadian Armed Forces Facebook page.
Gen. Jonathan Vance, Chief of Defence Staff, said last week that the helicopter with call sign Stalker was participating in exercises along with Turkish and Italian navies off the coast of Greece and was returning to land on the Canadian frigate when contact with the aircraft was lost at about 6:52 pm local time on Wednesday.
A few minutes later, Canadian sailors noticed flares in the water and immediately began search and rescue operations assisted by Turkish and Italian vessels.
Vance said the voice and data flight recorders have been recovered and are being flown to Canada for analysis.
Vance said the flight recorders broke off the helicopter and floated up to the surface but the rest of the wreckage may be at the depth of about 3,000 metres.
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