Andrew Raven
Northern News Services

Yellowknife (Aug 12/05) - Military investigators believe "human error" was behind an embarrassing accident last year that saw a 200-kilogram missile tumble from a Canadian fighter jet onto the Yellowknife Golf Club.

"The air force takes the flight safety business very, very seriously," said Captain Stephane Paquet, who headed an internal probe into the accident. "But like any sector of human activity, you get the odd human error every once in a while."

The $125,000 Sparrow missile fell from a Canadian Forces F-18, June 18, 2004, and landed on the golf club driving range. The fighter jet was approaching the nearby Yellowknife Airport for landing on what was supposed be a stopover before continuing on to Inuvik.

The mishap forced emergency officials to close Highway 3 - the only road into the capital - for an hour while military personnel searched for the missile.

The problem originated one day earlier at the Canadian Forces base in Cold Lake, Alberta, where air crews failed to completely secure the missile to a "launcher" on the underside of the wing, Paquet said.

When the plane left for Yellowknife the next day, the missile was only "half-locked." Increased gravity forces created when the fighter approached the Yellowknife Airport for landing shook the missile loose, Paquet said.

The Sparrow - which can travel 2.5 times the speed of sound and is designed for air-to-air combat - broke apart when it crashed into the driving range, but did not explode. While the missile contained a live warhead, Paquet said it had not been activated.

"The missile was never a danger per se - other than the fact it fell off the airplane. There was no way for that missile to blow up in an accident."

Military investigators examined the missile and launcher and determined the equipment was working properly. "We don't take any of this lightly. We have some very competent people look at that," Paquet said.

Implemented safety procedures

The military has implemented several safety procedures in the aftermath of the accident, including a redundant measure to ensure the missile is fully locked.

"We're pretty damn confident that the preventive measures we came up with... that it is very, very unlikely this will ever happen again."

The day after the missile mishap, another F-18 crash landed at the Yellowknife Airport, forcing officials to close the highway for several hours and prompting another military investigation.

The probe into the missile accident was completed last fall, though Paquet said the military did not release its findings publicly.