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AIR SAR

MayDay call initiates MAJAID response

When a British Airways flight northeast of Gander, Nfld., declared a MayDay due to fire and smoke problems in the cockpit on March 11, 2004, the Canadian Forces Major Air Disaster (MAJAID) response was alerted and the Hercules containing the MAJAID kit was prepared and en-route towards Gander.

All tasked resources were standing by in case the plane crashed, including a Cormorant from 103 Squadron, but fortunately the British Airways flight landed safely in Gander and the potential disaster was averted.

The CC-130 Hercules aircraft, which drops the MAJAID kits, burns 5000 lbs of fuel per hour. Photo courtesy of the Canadian Forces

MAJAID is the Canadian Forces emergency response plan to a major air incident that exceeds the resources of a responsible Joint Rescue Co-ordination Centre. The plan provides for far-reaching search and rescue (SAR) services in the remote regions of Canada, especially the high Arctic. There are four, 80 person kits which contain supplies, such as tents, medical supplies, a field hospital, a six-wheeled all-terrain vehicle, rations, environmental clothing, and more, to help people survive, even in the most extreme weather conditions. The MAJAID kits provide for 320 persons for 72 hours, but can be augmented by equipment from the primary SAR aircraft.

The kits are located at CFB Trenton, the central Canadian Forces Base, allowing for rapid deployment in any direction across Canada, and each kit contains the same supplies.

The crash of flight Swissair 111 off the coast of Nova Scotia marked the first time MAJAID had been mobilized for an air crash in Canada, but it was soon called off when it became clear there were no survivors.
In most cases, where events unfold rapidly, it is much better to activate the MAJAID plan and later have to stand down resources than to have to activate them late in the incident and risk not having them in time.

With increased travel to the North, the Canadian Forces has also developed Arctic Cache kits as part of the MAJAID plan. Six caches, consisting of emergency survival clothing and sleeping bags, will be located in Iqualuit, Yellowknife, Rankin Inlet, Resolute Bay, Inuvik and Whitehorse. These kits can be used on their own for any SAR distress, or used in conjunction with a MAJAID kit.

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