Military search and rescue exercise on P.E.I. cancelled

A search and rescue exercise in Summerside that was postponed Monday because of real emergencies in Nunavut and sles-de-la-Madeleine has now been cancelled altogether.

"That's why we like to doing these training events, to get ready for when a situation like this does happen and we have to get going right away," said Derek Prescott, operations officer of 413 Squadron out of Canadian Forces Base Greenwood.

"Unfortunately ... we were unable to carry out a lot of that training."

• Magdalen Islands plane crash investigation underway

• Maritime search and rescue exercise delayed by real emergencies

Just as crews arrived for the training exercise Monday in Summerside, the squadron was called away to help in the search for missing snowmobilers in Iqaluit. Then at about 5 p.m. AT, Cormorants from 413 Squadron responded to the crash of a small seven-person plane near the les-de-la-Madeleine airport. All seven people on board were killed.

"Right even before we started doing any of the training, the real tasking happened," Prescott said.

The training exercise was originally scheduled to run from Tuesday to Saturday. The squadron had planned to train people on how to set up a headquarters for search-and-rescue missions, as well as simulate rescue scenarios involving boats, flares and live parachute drops.

Prescott said he hopes to reschedule the training exercise in Summerside, though no timetable has been set.

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