(OTTAWA) A software glitch that caused a Canadian military helicopter to crash off the coast of Greece in 2020 will be fixed at federal government expense.
The Department of National Defense and Sikorsky Aircraft, which built the Cyclone military helicopters, say they have reached an agreement to fix the software problem on the rest of the fleet.
But Defense Department spokeswoman Jessica Lamirande said Canada will end up paying for the upgrades because they fall outside the original $3.1 billion contract with Sikorsky for 28 of the helicopters.
Six members of the Canadian Armed Forces were killed when the autopilot of their Cyclone codenamed Stalker 22 took control of the helicopter and plunged it into the Ionian Sea on April 29, 2020.
The accident put the spotlight on the long and problematic development of the Cyclones.
Cracks were recently discovered on the tails of helicopters in the rest of the fleet. But these repairs are carried out at the expense of Sikorsky.
