A simulated helicopter crash sent thick clouds of smoke billowing over Langley Regional Airport on Monday morning, Nov. 24.
Simulated helicopter crash at Langley Regional Airport pic.twitter.com/l7dPVinkXV
— Langley Advance Times (@LangleyTimes) November 24, 2025
Airport manager Patrick Sihota explained the scenario to media observers who watched the disaster rehearsal unfold on the runway next to the Standard Aero facility.
“The incident was a helicopter crash where a helicopter was returning back to Standard Aero and upon landing, they lost control and crashed,” Sihota described.
“It caught on fire. There was a fuel spill as well and there was a missing passenger on board that fled because they were scared.”
Sihota said the full-scale emergency exercise to test emergency preparedness for incidents was a coordinated effort with Langley RCMP, Township of Langley Fire Department, NAV Canada (the agency in charge of air traffic control), Standard Aero, and B.C. Emergency Health Services.
Police, fire and ambulance vehicles were on scene, along with a police dog team called in to locate the missing passenger.
“It’s actually a regulatory requirement that we conduct a full-scale exercise once every four years,” Sihota explained.
“So we’ll be conducting another one in four years”
Standard Aero manager Andrew Park said the aerospace company supplied the simulated debris. including a helicopter fuselage and tail boom.
“These are spare or scrap unserviceable material that we’ve removed and that’s destined for the garbage.” Park told the Langley Advance Times.
“So we thought this would be a great way to make the drill just a little bit more realistic.”
“A really important thing in aviation and a really important part of what we do is safety,” Park said. “And part of that is emergency preparedness.”
Langley RCMP spokesperson Sgt. Zynal Sharoom said the police role in the simulated air emergency “is to ensure that the public is safe. And in a scenario like this we would try and make sure that we protect and preserve life and also protect the scene for an investigation by Transport Canada.”