Canadian military pilot’s terminal cancer likely linked to service, appeal board rules

A Challenger jet is shown in a file image from the RCAF.

A Canadian military pilot, who was initially denied compensation by Veterans Affairs Canada in the months before his death, has been awarded full benefits after an appeal panel acknowledged a link between his terminal cancer and his exposure to carcinogens during electronic warfare duties.

The pilot, who is not identified in the recent ruling of the Veterans Review and Appeal Board of Canada, served more than 34 years in the Royal Canadian Air Force, during which he flew more than 7,600 hours in various electronic warfare, transport and air-to-air refuelling roles.

He was diagnosed with Stage 4 rectal cancer last December but remained active in the regular forces until his death in July.

According to the appeal panel decision published online last week, the pilot applied for disability benefits through Veteran Affairs early this year, attributing his illness to exposure to environmental and physical hazards while in the air force.

“He asserted these exposures, combined with the physical and psychological demands of his duties likely contributed to the development of his terminal illness,” the panel summarized.

But his benefits entitlement was denied by Veterans Affairs (VAC), which acknowledged that he was exposed to radiation, jet fuel and other chemicals, as well as to irregular work hours, over the course of his service career.

“While VAC accepted that there existed a valid diagnosis of the condition, it found that there was no medical evidence that established a link between the veteran’s terminal condition and his regular force service,” the agency found.

“A review of all the available evidence does not support that any service-related factors could have caused, contributed to, or aggravated your claimed condition.”

Veterans Affairs also considered whether the pilot’s condition was attributable to his special duty service in Afghanistan in 2007 and 2017. It similarly found no evidence that was the case, citing post-deployment medical examinations in December 2007 and March 2017, which “did not document any concerns” related to his cancer, the agency found.

U.S. electronic warfare tests

The pilot died from the illness before his appeal could be heard, but his wife pursued the claim on his behalf, testifying before the panel about her husband’s participation in experimental electronic warfare trials in the 1990s.

The pilot was one of a handful of Canadian aircrew participants in electromagnetic compatibility tests conducted at U.S. Naval Air Station Patuxent River in Maryland in August 1996, according to her testimony, which the Veterans Review and Appeal Board panel found “balanced, fact-based, and credible.”

The trials involved live electromagnetic inference testing on the CC-144 Challenger aircraft, a civilian jet that was then being incorporated into a Canadian electronic warfare role.

The pilot’s spouse “found it troubling that of five known Canadian aircrew trial participants, two had died (including her husband) and the three others were diagnosed and treated for various forms of cancer,” the panel wrote of her testimony.

In the months before his death, the veteran had undergone genetic testing to determine whether it was likely he would pass on a predisposition to the illness to their children. The genetic tests, submitted as evidence to the board, showed the cancer was unlikely to be inherited from one generation to the next, and had more likely arisen due to environmental factors.

An oncologist’s report provided to the panel found the pilot “was exposed to a number of known chemical carcinogens in the conduct of his service and that because of this the possibility, the veteran’s cancer being related to workforce exposures cannot be excluded.”

Pilot ‘exposed to known carcinogens’

Guided by that evidence, the panel concluded it was “more likely than not” that the pilot’s cancer arose from environmental factors, such as exposure to chemicals and radiation.

“Before his death, the veteran asserted that his military service was a significant contributing factor to his claimed condition,” the decision said. “The panel is unable to find definitive evidence in support of the veteran’s assertation. Notwithstanding this conflict, there is irrefutable proof that the veteran was exposed to known carcinogens and hazardous materials in his work environment.”

The decision went on to highlight that the pilot “was also subject to significant levels of ionizing cosmic radiation and non-ionizing electromagnetic radiation in the conduct of his service, especially in the role of electronic warfare with radiation in relation to fire control radars and electronic countermeasures and jamming.”

Because the panel was “unable to definitively rule out” a connection between the pilot’s terminal cancer and his military service, the panel concluded “there was likely a causal link.”

The board reversed the Veterans Affairs decision denying the pilot disability benefits, instead awarding his wife entitlement to full pain and suffering compensation for her husband’s regular military service, while upholding the denial of cancer-related benefits for his special duty service in Afghanistan.