Canadian fighter jet crashes while training, pilot dead

Ottawa (Canada): A pilot was dead in a Canadian CF-18 fighter jet crash in western Canada during a training mission on intervening hours of Tuesday. A helicopter from the base has been dispatched to the crash site.

According to Canadian Forces spokesman Daniel Le Bouthillier, the plane was based out of Alberta’s Canadian Forces Base Cold Lake, the busiest fighter base in Canada that provides fighter training for all Canadian Forces pilots.

"The plane came down on the Saskatchewan side of the border between the provinces during a routine training mission," Air Force commander Lt.-Gen. Michael Hood said.

It may be recalled that the Canadian government had announced earlier last week that it would look to buy 18 Super Hornet jet fighters from Boeing to replace Canada’s aging fleet of CF-18s.