Canadian Piper Dies in Military Helicopter Crash

The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation report…..

The aircraft had as many as six people aboard when it went down yesterday. Sub.-Lt. Abbigail Cowbrough, seen in her Facebook profile photo (above), has been identified as one of the victims of the Canadian military helicopter crash in the Mediterranean on Wednesday.

Cowbrough, 23, graduated from the Royal Military College of Canada in 2018 and was serving as a marine system engineering officer aboard HMCS Fredericton when she died in the crash. 

The CH-148 Cyclone helicopter was a fixture of HMCS Fredericton, a vessel that was deployed from Halifax, N.S., in January to join the standing NATO naval group currently off the coast of Greece. Local media reports, quoting the Greek defence ministry, said the aircraft had as many as six people aboard when it crashed.

Sources have told CBC News that all six people are Canadian. Shane Cowbrough, the young navy officer’s father, expressed his grief on social media early Thursday.

“I am broken and gutted. Today I lost my oldest daughter, Abbigail Cowbrough, in the crash involving the Cyclone from HMCS Fredericton. There are no words. You made me forever proud. I will love you always, and miss you in every moment. You are the bright light in my life taken far too soon,” he said in a Facebook post.

The Regal Heights Baptist Church in Dartmouth identified Cowbrough as a member of its congregation in a Facebook post Thursday morning, saying the church was “heartbroken” to have “lost a wonderful young woman.”

Cowbrough was a bagpiper and a member of the Union Fire Club Pipes and Drums. In a Facebook post, the group said it was “profoundly saddened to hear that a beloved member of our band has lost her life while serving her country.”

A search and rescue mission responded to the helicopter crash Wednesday night. A source with the Greek government told CBC News that one body had been recovered. Separately, local media in Greece also reported that wreckage had been spotted.

Following the deadly shooting in Nova Scotia on April 18 and 19, Cowbrough was recorded playing Amazing Grace on her bagpipes, standing on the deck of HMCS Fredericton, as a tribute to the 22 victims of the shootings.