Military technician fined after crack in Cyclone helicopter unreported

Joshua Streeter, an air weapons technician onboard HMCS Montreal, stands in front of the ship's embarked CH-148 Cyclone helicopter as part of Exercise Talisman Sabre on July 27, 2023. (Cpl. Connor Bennett/The Canadian Armed Forces)

A Royal Canadian Air Force sergeant has been fined $2,000 after damaging a military helicopter and failing to report it following an emergency landing overseas.

Sgt. C.J. Matiz, 46, pleaded guilty at a court martial hearing last month to signing an inaccurate certificate verifying the airworthiness of a Cyclone helicopter that had been deployed aboard the frigate HMCS Montreal in Australia.

The military judge’s decision, recently published online, says the lapse in judgment occurred during a “high-stress” scenario in an “austere and isolated” environment, where Matiz and other technicians were working with few tools and little sleep.

But those pressures do not excuse or lessen the seriousness of the offence, according to Col. Steve Strickey, the judge who presided over the case.

“Operational pressures in an austere environment are exactly what members of the CAF (Canadian Armed Forces) train for,” Strickey wrote in the decision.

‘Severe sleep deprivation’

An agreed statement of facts in the case says Matiz, who was then an aviation systems technician with the rank of master corporal, was dispatched from HMCS Montreal with a test pilot and two other technicians after the frigate’s helicopter made an emergency landing at a remote airstrip outside Melbourne in August 2023.

They brought spare parts to repair the aircraft, but their efforts were hampered by geographic isolation and “communication breakdowns,” the court heard.

The aircrew and technicians also “faced significant pressure from HMCS Montreal to return to the ship in time for its transit through the Suez Canal,” according to court documents.

“This urgency created a high-stress environment for those involved in aircraft repairs and logistics, compounded by limited tools and severe sleep deprivation.”

The team stayed with the downed helicopter “for security purposes” all through the night of Aug. 11. But during an inspection around midnight, Matiz accidentally fell on the aircraft’s horizontal stabilizer, causing damage.

The next morning, Matiz noticed a crack in the stabilizer where he had fallen but he did not report it to an aircraft structures technician, known as an ACS Tech, according to the documents.

“None of the three technicians dispatched from the ship were ACS Techs,” the judge wrote. “No other action was taken at the time due to competing aircraft issues and pressure to return the aircraft to service.”

‘Unsafe for flight’

Three days later, Matiz carried out inspections and signed a certificate validating the Cyclone’s airworthiness before releasing it back to the pilots.

After a successful test flight and additional checks, the helicopter flew to the city of Adelaide, where its auxiliary power generator failed, grounding it again.

A replacement part was ordered from 12 Wing Shearwater in Nova Scotia, and additional technicians — including an ACS Tech — were dispatched from Perth, about 2,600 kilometres away.

Because of the delays, HMCS Montreal left Australia on Aug. 24 without its helicopter air detachment.

When the spare part arrived and the second round of repairs was complete, Matiz again signed off on the Cyclone’s airworthiness. But when the ACS Tech inspected the airframe, he raised concerns about the cracked stabilizer, and “assessed the aircraft as unserviceable and unsafe for flight,” according to the documents.

Matiz then told the air detachment commander and pilot about the crack but maintained the damage “was minor and did not render the aircraft unserviceable.” He signed another certificate and the helicopter was flown to a Royal Australian Air Force base in Edinburgh, north of Adelaide.

Either during that flight or shortly afterward, the air detachment commander learned of the ACS Tech’s concerns and messaged Matiz about the damage. The commander then grounded the aircraft to “reduce pressure from the technicians and focus on the aircraft preservation,” the documents say.

‘Rescue team’ deployed

The aircrew and technicians all gradually returned to Canada, according to the documents, while a “rescue team” arrived in Australia on Nov. 2 to load the damaged helicopter onto a C-17 Globemaster and fly it home.

The military prosecutor and Matiz’s defence counsel agreed that Matiz “knew or should have known” to report the cracked stabilizer to the aircraft technicians as soon as he noticed the damage. And because he was not qualified to assess structural damage, the certificates he signed were invalid.

The maximum penalty for signing an inaccurate aircraft certificate under the National Defence Act is imprisonment for less than two years.

“This offence touches directly upon the safety of your fellow CAF teammates,” the judge wrote. “This was a regrettable lack of judgment on your part.”

The judge cited Matiz’s rank and experience as aggravating factors in the case, writing that he joined the military in 2003. He served first with the Canadian Army infantry and completed 14 months of combat operations in Afghanistan before transferring to the air force.

His failure to alert the technicians to the damage “could have become a safety issue,” the judge added.

“Matiz was not qualified to assess structural damage as he is not an ACS Tech,” Strickey continued. “Therefore, he knew that the certificate that he signed was inaccurate.”

However, the judge found the lapse in judgment was “an isolated incident,” and that Matiz has otherwise served honourably in the Canadian Armed Forces, with no prior record of misconduct.

Matiz was promoted to sergeant in April 2024, which the judge found “demonstrates that he retains the trust and confidence of his chain of command.”

The $2,000 fine is intended to provide a deterrent to others in the military, Strickey concluded, most “notably the Royal Canadian Air Force technical community, who may choose to inaccurately sign certificates in relation to aircraft.”

The judge ordered a stay of proceedings on a second charge against Matiz in the case, that of negligently performing a military duty.