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23 Jul 10: CF-18 Crash @ Lethbridge Airport

The Bread Guy

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This from CTV.ca:
A Canadian forces CF-18 fighter jet has crashed at the Lethbridge County airport Friday afternoon.

CTV News has learned the jet was was flying at a low altitude before it crashed at the airport. The pilot ejected before the jet crashed, and appears to be OK.

There is no word at this point on whether anyone was injured on the ground. Emergency crews are now attending to the scene, and highways to the airport have been closed.

Lethbridge is preparing for the Alberta International Air Show, which begins Saturday ....

CBC Alert on Twitter:
CF-18 fighter jet has crashed during practice for the Lethbridge International Airshow. Pilot is in hospital; no word on condition.

Here's hoping pilot will be OK....

- edited to add following -

A bit more detail from Global News:
A CF-18 fighter jet has crashed in Lethbridge as the International Airshow gets underway.

Witnesses are reporting that the pilot pulled out of his parachute before the plane crashed. The pilot is the only one reported injured at this time.

The plane was believed to have been in Lethbridge for the airshow, which runs this weekend.
 
A bit more from QMI/Sun Media:
A Canadian Forces CF-18 fighter jet has crashed in Lethbridge.

Witnesses tell QMI Agency the jet fighter crashed on airport property at 12:22 p.m.

The pilot is believed to have ejected and survived the crash.

He was taken to Lethbridge hospital with undetermined injuries, said RCMP Insp. Joe McGeough.

He said the injuries weren't life threatening.


The aircraft was in town for the Lethbridge International Airshow, which is to take place this weekend.

Here's hoping for a full and speedy recovery...
 
url=http://www.calgarysun.com/news/alberta/2010/07/23/14807006.html#/news/alberta/2010/07/23/pf-14807001.html]A bit more[/url] from QMI/Sun Media:
A Canadian Forces CF-18 fighter jet has crashed in Lethbridge.

Witnesses tell QMI Agency the jet fighter crashed on airport property at 12:22 p.m.

The pilot is believed to have ejected and survived the crash.
He was taken to Lethbridge hospital with undetermined injuries, said RCMP Insp. Joe McGeough.

He said the injuries weren't life threatening.

Anyone else find the humour in the "reporting"?  "The pilot is believed to have survived the crash - his injuries were not life threatening"  Duh!

This could be an entry into "The dumbest thing I heard today." thread.
 
From the Calgary Herald:

CALGARY — A Canadian Air Force CF-18 fighter jet crashed at the Lethbridge Regional Airport Friday, as the facility was getting ready for the Alberta International Airshow.

Lethbridge RCMP said the pilot was taken to Chinook Regional Hospital with undetermined injuries after the crash occured around 12:20 p.m.

Witnesses say he pulled his parachute and ejected before the plane crashed.

RCMP and the local fire department have cordoned off the area.

A military spokeswoman said the cause of the crash is under investigation. It's not immediately known whether the plane ran into trouble during mid-air manoeuvres, or on take-off or landing.

"I can confirm a CF-18 Hornet has crashed during practice for the Lethbridge air show," said Capt. Nicole Meszaros, a spokeswoman for 4 Wing, based at CFB Cold Lake, Alberta.

"The pilot, we are very thankful to say, is OK. We believe at this point that his injuries are not life-threatening."

Authorities have not released the pilot's name, but Meszaros said the pilot is attached to 3 Wing from CFB Bagotville in Quebec. The plane's crew is based in Cold Lake, Meszaros added.

Global Television contributed to this report
 
George Wallace said:
.... "The pilot is believed to have  ejected and survived the crash" ....
This is what one writes when witnesses tell OTHER media "I saw someone fly out of the plane and come down with a parachute" when one doesn't want to attribute which other media the info came from.  Breaking story, writing in a hurry, saw it in more than one story, so one thinks it must be OK to include.

Also, look at the direct quote from a spokesperson:
"We believe at this point that his injuries are not life-threatening."

Everyone's in a hurry to write, nobody's got time to wait for the whole picture - nature of the biz.
 
From Airshowbuzz.com:

Captain Brian "Boozer" Bews, the CF-18 Hornet demonstration pilot for the Canadian Forces, was performing a high alpha pass when the aircraft began to yaw right. At low speed, low altitude, he knew he didn't have many options so ejected. He has been transported to a local hospital. Credible ICAS members report he was conscious and did not have any injuries beyond lower back pain.

Sounds like engine(s) failure, either a bird strike or mechanical.
 
I woke up this morning with a smile on my face, as I heard the distinct sound of a low flying fighter aircraft roaring over my house.  I rolled over, smiled, and remembered "Hey, its airshow weekend!"

Then about a minute later, I heard a big "BOOM!"  But do to all the construction on my block, didn't think anything of it.  Who knew it would be the same plane I had just woken up to, slamming into the ground.  Wow.

Glad the pilot is okay!! 
 
milnews.ca said:
This is what one writes when witnesses tell OTHER media "I saw someone fly out of the plane and come down with a parachute" when one doesn't want to attribute which other media the info came from.  Breaking story, writing in a hurry, saw it in more than one story, so one thinks it must be OK to include.

Also, look at the direct quote from a spokesperson:
Everyone's in a hurry to write, nobody's got time to wait for the whole picture - nature of the biz.

Come on, Tony, what are we supposed to do with an editor screaming at us through a cell phone? Tell him there appears to have been a plane crash but we're not comfortable writing anything about it until the BOI report is issued in 18 months?
 
Maybe not 18 months but a few hours until things are confirmed seems reasonable to me.
 
I've only been covering news for 25 years, I wasn't aware there was a golden hour where all the rumours, reports, conflicting eyewitness testimony and supposition disappeared, leaving only facts.
 
40below said:
I've only been covering news for 25 years, I wasn't aware there was a golden hour where all the rumours, reports, conflicting eyewitness testimony and supposition disappeared, leaving only facts.

Agreed, but the writer and the editor should at least catch and correct some of the "contradictions" as they update a piece.  As seen here, it can become quite comical and detract significantly from a less than humourous report.  As time passes and more and more of these mistakes are made, the media outlet will find that it has lost all credibility. 
 
George, take it from me, half the facts reported in the first 24 hours after a major news event are wrong, only because we have to rely on dumbasses we talk to an the lack of first-hand information.

Here's an example. If you read what you quoted above and made such fun of, it was the RCMP who issued the statement that you take such issue with about the pilot apparently ejecting and reportedly not suffering lifethreatening injuries. Feel free to put it your dumb quote file, but do correctly attribute it to a federal civil servant, not a reporter who wrote down the words of the guy the federal government chose to issue an official statement about what occurred.
 
George Wallace said:
Agreed, but the writer and the editor should at least catch and correct some of the "contradictions" as they update a piece.  As seen here, it can become quite comical and detract significantly from a less than humourous report.  As time passes and more and more of these mistakes are made, the media outlet will find that it has lost all credibility.

Trust me, I know. But people want to know what went 'whomp' and why their neighbourhood smells like burning jet fuel all of a sudden, and what's that smoke?, so we have to stop what we're doing and go ask. We didn't see it either, so we have to ask people, and hopefully intitial errors are corrected, but as you well know, if you ask five people about what they saw, you're gonna get seven stories. The stuff in the physical papers tomorrow is going to be much more accurate as reporters have had more time to talk to more people. By Monday, it will be something close to correct.
 
paulmaster1 said:
Go to global calgary or edmonton for raw video of the crash

http://www.globaltvcalgary.com/Video+Fighter+crash/3315698/story.html

http://www.globaltvcalgary.com/Amateur+Video+Lethbridge+crash/3315746/story.html
 
and raw video links here as well:

http://www.edmontonjournal.com/news/crashes+Alberta/3315220/story.html
 
milnews.ca said:
This is what one writes when witnesses tell OTHER media "I saw someone fly out of the plane and come down with a parachute" when one doesn't want to attribute which other media the info came from.  Breaking story, writing in a hurry, saw it in more than one story, so one thinks it must be OK to include.

Also, look at the direct quote from a spokesperson:
Everyone's in a hurry to write, nobody's got time to wait for the whole picture - nature of the biz.

And I'm not trying to pile on you Tony, but I do note, when you saw this story, you didn't say to yourself, "I'm not going to post this to army.ca, I'm going to wait a few weeks until all the facts are corrected and official statements are released."  >:D
 
desert_rat said:
and raw video links here as well:

http://www.edmontonjournal.com/news/crashes+Alberta/3315220/story.html

"Wooo hooo!"
"Is that supposed to happen?"

Are you fucking kidding me?  ::)
 
40below:  First off, thanks for coming into the open to help us learn a bit more about the craft.  I know you work hard at getting it right, and try to get your colleagues to do it right, too, but as with cops/soldiers/politicians, the group often suffers because of the mistakes of the few.

40below said:
Come on, Tony, what are we supposed to do with an editor screaming at us through a cell phone? Tell him there appears to have been a plane crash but we're not comfortable writing anything about it until the BOI report is issued in 18 months?
Good point - I stand corrected for not providing more context.

The DS solution:  "I've seen a, witnesses tell me b, spokespersons say c, other media outlets (named) say d, and we don't know e yet."  That said, there's also pressure on the reporter from the bosses to get something out.  This part is a structural issue, not an individual reporter issue (although, being human, some reporters and editors take shortcuts).  I've also worked in places where we were told "it's OK if the others get it first, but we will get it right." 

In your example:
40below said:
If you read what you quoted above and made such fun of, it was the RCMP who issued the statement that you take such issue with about the pilot apparently ejecting and reportedly not suffering lifethreatening injuries. Feel free to put it your dumb quote file, but do correctly attribute it to a federal civil servant, not a reporter who wrote down the words of the guy the federal government chose to issue an official statement about what occurred.
The DS solution would be "The RCMP says...."

40below said:
And I'm not trying to pile on you Tony, but I do note, when you saw this story, you didn't say to yourself, "I'm not going to post this to army.ca, I'm going to wait a few weeks until all the facts are corrected and official statements are released."  >:D
Touché, fair enough and I don't feel piled on.  Two critical differences, though:

1) I'm not and don't claim to be a journalist - just an idle former journalist who bakes bread on weekends and armchair quarterbacks critiques MSM and professional communicators from time to time  ;D

2)  I tend to see forums like this as a one-stop "mosaic" where tiles from different media outlets get pulled together until something approximating a picture emerges.  Then, more tiles from people who know the biz get plugged in to make a more nuanced mosaic.  I don't have the editor yelling down the phone at me (anymore, anyway).

Then again, maybe I'm bitter & twisted sensitive because of stories other outlets would steal from me without crediting/attribution, or being misquoted or taken out of context by some MSM :)
 
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