On 27 December 2023, a Twin Otter aircraft operated by Air Tindi crashed in Canada's high North, approximately 300 km Northeast of Yellowknife, Northwest Territories.

10 people were onboard, with some suffering injuries. It was night time, and there was blizzard conditions.

This episode is a first-hand account of the Search and Rescue (SAR) response to this incident by the Canadian Armed Forces, and specifically the Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF) and its 435 "Chinthe" Transport and Rescue Squadron which is based at 17 Wing in Winnipeg, Manitoba.

Search and Rescue at 435 Squadron is a 24 hour-a-day, seven day-a-week responsibility. The Squadron operates the venerable CC-130 Hercules aircraft, some of which are permanently equipped and dedicated for search and rescue missions. During working hours on weekdays, the search and rescue standby aircraft and crew are ready to respond within 30 minutes of being notified. At all other times, the response time is extended to two hours.

435 Transport and Rescue (T&R) Squadron; and 424 T&R Squadron at 8 Wing in Trenton, Ontario, provide primary search and rescue response for the Trenton Search and Rescue Region, the largest in Canada, which extends from Quebec City to the British Columbia/Alberta border, and from the Canada/United States border to the North Pole.

In this episode you will hear a first-hand account of the SAR response from 435 Squadron members Capt. Jason Shaw, who was the aircraft commander, and Sergeant Vincent C. Benoit, who was the senior Search and Rescue Technician (SARTech) on the mission. They are 2 of 8 RCAF members who flew on this rescue mission.

You'll hear about the C-130 in its SAR role, you'll hear the distances the crew had to fly, you'll learn about the challenging conditions they encountered, you'll hear about parachuting from the aircraft in blizzard conditions, and you'll hear about the care they gave to the occupants of the aircraft that crashed.

Our tag-line at Go Bold is Talking to Real Life Heroes, and this episode is exactly that.

Our guests, and the rest of their crew, the men and women at the Joint Rescue Coordination Centre, the men and women than maintain and support the RCAF aircraft, and the rescue team from the Diavik Diamond Mine are all heroes. We honor them with this episode which preserves their actions for others to hear and remember.

Thank you to my guests, and thank you for serving and helping those in need!

Go Bold!