A Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF) CC-150 Polaris and a French Air and Space Force (AAE) A400M transport aircraft collided on the ground at Anderson Air Force Base in Guam.
On July 21, 2023, the two aircraft were on the ramp at the US Air Force base when they came into contact.
The French Ministry of Armed Forces confirmed the incident in an email to AeroTime, indicating that the Canadian aircraft was being towed during the collision.
“On July 22, 2023, at 10:30 AM, a CC-150 aircraft from the Royal Canadian Air Force accidentally collided with a parked A400M aircraft from the French Air and Space Force at Andersen Air Force Base on Guam Island,” the ministry said in a statement. “The engines were turned off, and there were no personnel on board, so no injuries were reported. Both aircraft’s horizontal stabilizers were damaged.”
“Analyses are currently underway to assess the extent of the damage and conduct necessary repairs as soon as possible. An investigation is ongoing to determine the causes of the incident,” the statement concludes.
The incident was first reported by Global News, citing a statement from the Canadian Department of National Defence.
“There was no one on board the Canadian aircraft at the time and there are no reported casualties,” a spokesperson for the department told the Canadian news portal, hinting that the aircraft were either taxiing or being towed at the time of the incident.
Both the RCAF and the AAE were deployed to Guam to participate in interallied exercises organized by the United States Pacific Air Forces (PACAF), such as Exercise Mobility Guardian 2023 which ran from July 5 to 21, 2023.
On July 10, 2023, training turned into practice as French, Canadian, and US forces were involved in a joint search and rescue operation to save the operator and passengers of a distressed fishing vessel.