A small island on a lake in Canada’s Northwest Territories (NWT) has been named “Duck Island” after a Canadair CL-215 scooper was stranded there for a couple of months till it was airlifted out by a CH-47 Chinook helicopter owned by Billings Flying Service.
Sometimes called “ducks” for their nimble maneuvering on water, the CL-215 scooper is a twin-engine, high-wing amphibious airtanker that is a staple of aerial firefighting operations. Canada endured a severe fire season this year, with more than 300 fires and over 4 million hectares burned — almost 10 million acres.
Vertical Magazine reported that a 1968 CL-215 belonging to NWT operator Buffalo Airways Ltd. was scooping water in late August from remote Mitchell Lake north of Yellowknife.
“We were at a low water cycle,” recalled Joe McBryan, founder of Buffalo Airways. “It was four feet lower than normal. We had scooped 78 loads off that lake, but this time the aircraft struck a rock reef.” The rock punctured the aircraft underbelly and caused a fast flow of water into the keel, rendering the plane inoperational. The pilots spotted a small island nearby and were able to taxi the CL-215 over and tie it to a small tree before they were rescued by helicopter.
“It was a little northern toothpick tree,” laughed Benjamin Tessier, a technician in aerospace engineering at Buffalo Airways. He was part of the crew who were sent in to prepare the scooper for an airlift, and McBryan then found the only helicopter that could possibly airlift the CL-215 scooper back to safety — a CH-47 Chinook.
Meanwhile, Tessier and five of his co-workers headed for the island. They had to somehow reduce the aircraft’s empty weight to a number between 18,000 and 18,500 lbs. — and get it out of the water.
“We did everything in September to prepare for the takeoff,” Tessier told Vertical Magazine. “We took the engines and props apart and removed them, took all fluids out (oil, fuel, foam agent), got rid of the radios, pump systems — all to lighten it up. We removed 10,000 lbs. of equipment plus about 13 drums of fluids. All of that took about two weeks.”
Tessier said the props and engines were removed while the aircraft was still on the water. “We cut trees and built a raft that we craned the engines onto,” he recalled. “We supported all the weight of the engines on that raft and a Bell 205 helicopter lifted them from there.” SimpleFlying.com reported that the retrieval operation went smoothly, with Tessier shooting video and posting it online.
Recovering the aircraft involved weeks of careful planning — and even special government approval. The main concern for Buffalo Airways was the fast-approaching winter season. Once temperatures dipped below freezing, the aircraft would be frozen into the lake ice, making things infinitely more difficult. Two things had to happen before they could airlift the CL-215; they needed an exemption from Transport Canada to move the aircraft, which took a month to acquire. And the scooper’s weight had to be reduced enough to be lifted by the Chinook.
The CL-215 also had to be pulled out of the lake; its keel was full of water, which added a lot of weight — too much for the helicopter lift. It took three days, with six men taking turns to hand-crank the plane onto the lakeshore.
The CH-47 Chinook, operated by Montana’s Billings Flying Service, flew in October 30. (Imagine that phone call — you want us to what??) Mechanics from Buffalo and Billings flew in, and they were accompanied by the general manager of Alberta-based Airborne Energy Solutions; their team provided support and guidance on risk management for the operation.
“It was so bizarre to see such a big machine in remote little Mitchell Lake on Duck Island,” said Tessier. “They didn’t waste any time at all. Everything the pilot did was deliberate. He positioned himself in the wind, cable already dangling. We had a 50-foot extension cable going from the plane to where he hooked on. As soon as tension was there, it just went up. The Chinook didn’t budge, didn’t seem to struggle; there was no noticeable change in engine noise.”
The CL-215 took a 45-minute ride and was delivered to Buffalo’s main base at Yellowknife Airport. They say it will take a few months of repairs to return the CL-215 to serviceable condition, but they expect it will be ready in time for the 2024 fire season.
The full story by Lisa Gordon is well worth the read — it’s online at Vertical Magazine.
~ Thanks and a tip of the hardhat to Jim for this heads-up.
Isn’t Buffalo Airways the topic of the Ice Pilots NWT tv reality series?
Wonder if this will be an episode or not?
Yes it is.
ICE PILOTS