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The military hasn’t placed flight restrictions on its Cyclone helicopters, despite not knowing the cause of a hard landing aboard Halifax-based Asterix in the Pacific Ocean last month where the pilot was a civilian.

The CH-148 Cyclone’s main rotor blades hit and damaged the tail of the aircraft while landing on the Asterix during wind-envelope testing on Feb. 18.

The helicopter and supply ship were operating with HMCS Regina on Operation Projection near Hawaii.

There were no serious injuries, said the Department of National Defence spokeswoman. But she wouldn’t say no one was injured.

The test pilot recently retired from the Royal Canadian Air Force with “extensive Sea King and Cyclone flight experience,” and was brought in under an agreement with Transport Canada, said a Department of National Defence spokeswoman.

The pilot took “refresher and currency training at the Cyclone Operational Training Unit and re-qualified on the Cyclone,” said the spokeswoman.

The incident took place during daylight and in relatively calm conditions, military sources told The Ottawa Citizen. The helicopter appeared to suddenly drop about two metres onto the deck.

Larry McWha, a retired helicoper pilot, said a Cyclone’s flight control system doesn’t allow for a co-pilot to intervene quickly.

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On February 18, 2019, the CH-148 Cyclone helicopter, currently deployed on Operation PROJECTION, experienced a hard landing on board Naval Replenishment Unit (NRU) ASTERIX West of Kauai, Hawaii.



(Stock image used) pic.twitter.com/BTTepc3kQs — Canadian Armed Forces Operations (@CFOperations) February 19, 2019

“In a Sea King if the pilot is doing something that is incorrect or potentially hurtful or could cause an incident, the non-flying pilot could intervene,” said McWha, who flew Sea Kings from 1967 until 1994.

“In a Cyclone, it is not possible for the non-flying pilot to intervene quickly enough to stop something like this from happening,” he said.

McWha compared the Cyclone’s flight control system to two joysticks connected to a game, but when one moves, the other doesn’t.

“So if it’s sitting in the middle in a neutral position, you wouldn’t automatically know where it is,” he said.

The Cyclone also has a unique two-point landing: the first on the main landing gear and the second on the nose gear.

“That is strictly a matter of design features of the Cyclone,” he said.

The damaged Cyclone was taken to Guam with the Asterix and HMCS Regina to have its tail pylon replaced and is now back to full operational capability.

The Sikorsky-built Cyclones are the much-delayed replacements for the Sea King helicopters. The East Coast fleet of Sea Kings went out of service last year after more than a half-century.