Parachuting exercise prompts large emergency response

A Canadian Armed Forces parachuting exercise prompted a massive emergency response to the area of Front Road and Days Road on the evening of Thursday, May 18, 2023.

“Kingston Police and other emergency services attended an area in the west end of Kingston after receiving a complaint of an aircraft landing in a field in the area of Front Rd and Days Rd,” Kingston Police confirmed in an email statement following the incident.

According to Kingston Police, emergency services personnel did not locate any downed aircraft in the area. “Kingston Police can confirm that after speaking with Canadian Armed Forces representatives that their Skyhawk precision parachute team was conducting a demonstration over the RMC peninsula for their yearly sunset ceremony during this time period,” Kingston Police confirmed.

The precision parachute team performs across Canada and the demonstration this evening was completely within control, Kingston Police said. “There are no public safety concerns and it should be noted that the parachute team deploys smoke from a foot bracket that can be clearly seen in the sky during their descent.”