As his snowmobile slid to a stop on the vast ice off the coast of Labrador, 14-year-old Burton Winters must have wondered whether he would be rescued.

But by the time he had taken his final step in a 19-kilometre trek across the frozen sea, no one had come.

Winters' body was found Feb. 1, 2012, three days after he was first reported missing.

All three of Canada's search and rescue planes in the area were down for maintenance when he went missing. It took two days for the military to dispatch a helicopter to look for him, as most of those aircraft were initially unavailable, too.

Every year, Canadian military aircraft respond to more than 1,000 search and rescue assignments. Approximately 140 highly trained search and rescue technicians save about 1,200 lives annually, according to the Department of National Defence.

But it's a task that is becoming increasingly complex due to Canada's aging equipment.

A BuzzFeed Canada investigation has found that Canada’s search and rescue planes are beleaguered by a disproportionate number of mechanical problems. The federal government’s failure to replace them threatens to erode the military’s ability to save lives at home, experts say.



The Canadian military uses an older version of the Lockheed CC-130 Hercules aircraft to locate people in distress. It has been slotted for replacement for more than a decade. An analysis of air force data shows the aging Hercules fleet was nearly three times more likely than other military aircraft to experience mechanical problems.



The 13 H-model Hercules operated by the Canadian Forces accounted for about 4% of all flying hours logged by the Royal Canadian Air Force last year, yet were responsible for nearly 13% of all mechanical issues. The air force owns and operates a total of 405 aircraft.