T-33 Silver Star Crash, 1994

Jul 31, 1994

DARTMOUTH, N.S.  – Capt. Harry Munro deployed his parachute but
probably died immediately rather than sometime during the three days
he was missing, says the search and rescue technician who found the
military pilot’s body Saturday.

The Canadian Forces said Sunday it has temporarily grounded its entire
fleet of 49 T-33 Silver Star jets pending early information from its
investigation into Wednesday’s crash. Officials expect the planes to
be back in the air in a few days.

For three days a massive ground and air search desperately tried to
find Munro in hilly, thickly wooded wilderness near Windsor, N.S., in
the hope he may have survived the fiery crash of his 40-year-old
Silver Star.

That hope ended Saturday when Corp. Bryan Pierce and Sgt. Rob Walker
found the body, sprawled under its orange and white parachute on a
wooded hill.

Pierce, the first one to spot the body, said Munro was lying flat on
his back with his arms stretched out. His seat pack was intact beneath
him, but he had made no attempt to reach the radio transmitter and
other emergency equipment in it.

“From his position on the ground it was obvious to us he didn’t move
once he hit the ground,” Pierce said in an interview Sunday. “You
would think if he were still alive he would maybe try to activate his
beacon to let someone know he was still alive.”

While investigators try to determine the possible cause of the crash,
an autopsy was being performed to determine the cause of Munro’s death.

It isn’t known whether he died in the plane or in the fall. Although
the woods were dense, pilots can usually survive landings in such
areas and the ground was softened by moss, military officials said.

Investigators were trying to determine if the plane’s ejection system
worked properly. They were searching for Munro’s ejection seat and the
plane’s cockpit canopy. They found the passenger seat, which ejects
automatically with the pilot’s seat, and a strut that holds the canopy.

The system is designed so a pilot can safely eject even if the plane
were on the runway, said Col. John Cody, commander of Canadian Forces
Base Shearwater, N.S., where the Silver Star was based.

Lt. Col. B. C. Campbell, commander of the Shearwater combat-support
squadron to which the Silver Star belonged, said it’s prudent to
ground the airplanes for now. He added pilots have confidence in the
T-Birds, as the T-shaped jets are affectionately called, even hough
the planes are all between 38 and 40 years old.

“That’s the normal procedure when we don’t know – to take the safest
route,” Campbell said.

“The airplanes are very well maintained and very safe and there are
actually lots of airplanes in the world flying that are much older
than that. We’ve had a lot of confidence in the T-Bird for a lot of
years and until we find something to indicate otherwise, I’m sure that
will continue.”