‘It’s a tragedy’: Petawawa mourns death of 2 helicopter crew members

Hani Diab was in shock when he heard the news two helicopter crew members were dead after their aircraft crashed near Garrison Petawawa on Tuesday.

“Petawawa woke up [to] such sad news you cannot bear,” Diab said.

“It’s a tragedy.”

Canada’s Department of National Defence (DND) said a CH-147F Chinook carrying four Canadian Armed Forces members on a training flight crashed into the Ottawa River just after midnight on June 20.

The two others on board were found by Garrison Petawawa firefighters with minor injuries and have been released from hospital, according to the department.

The news of the deaths has shaken community members in the area and hits close to home for some, including Diab, who was reminded of another tragedy that changed his life.

His son March Diab was killed in 2009 while serving with the Canadian Armed Forces in Afghanistan. He opened Madameek Restaurant shortly after to fulfil his son’s dream of having “a shawarma place for his colleagues and on base.”

“I remember when this happened to us, what we went through,” said Diab. “No matter what I say, I cannot express how sad we are — Petawawa, the whole area.

“The military base here is full of good people and they are brothers in arms … Everybody will pray for them.”

Questions still linger

Petawawa Mayor Gary Serviss said this week the base is an integral part of the community.

“There are a lot of very close connections and bonds between the town of Petawawa and the Garrison Petawawa,” he said. “Many of the serving members live in the town.”

‘Everybody will be affected by this tragedy,’ Petawawa mayor says of helicopter crash

Petawawa Mayor Gary Serviss said he expects an “emotional next couple of days” in the eastern Ontario town and that the community and the garrison will support each other.

Sue Shipitalo lives close to the crash site and is among those grieving.

“It’s very upsetting. We see, regularly, servicemen out in the water. We watched them jump out of planes last year. They’re part of our community. It’s part of living in this part of the Ottawa River. We enjoy it,” said Shipitalo.

“This will put a dampener on the whole summer, knowing that these two young men lost their lives here.”

On Wednesday, the flag at the Royal Canadian Legion’s Petawawa branch was lowered by president Ralph Kendrick to mark the deaths.

“It hurts because it’s not the first time I’m involved in something like this,” said Kendrick, who previously served in the military for 30 years.

Decades prior, he was involved in a helicopter crash that killed some of his colleagues. When he heard the news, memories of that incident came flooding back.

“It doesn’t leave you,” he said.

Kendrick added he’s not alone in his pain. He said community members — also former members of the military — are grieving the deaths in addition to reliving memories of similar tragedies they have faced in their line of work.

Kendrick added many questions still linger.

“We don’t know where the ceremonies are going to be, we don’t know who the people were, we don’t know if they’re Petawawa residents, we don’t know where they’re from,” he said.

DND has released little information about the crew members who died in the crash, but said their family members have asked for their names not to be released.

The Royal Canadian Air Force’s Directorate of Flight Safety is investigating what caused the crash.

An emailed statement from a DND spokesperson said a team of 16 people including investigators, medical and fleet operations advisers and technical and engineering advisers are expected to arrive in Petawawa Thursday.