HMCS Fredericton

Additional remains have been found and five missing Canadian military members from a helicopter crash off Greece are now presumed dead, the Canadian military said Friday.
The Canadian Armed Forces said in a statement that NATO's search and rescue efforts are now a search and recovery effort.

One person is dead and five are missing after a military helicopter operating off a Canadian frigate during a NATO exercise crashed into the sea between Greece and Italy, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said Thursday.

Trudeau said one body had been found, and the five others aboard the aircraft were missing.

"We hold out hope to find the missing," Trudeau said.

The Canadian warship Fredericton has entered the Black Sea for joint drills with naval vessels from Bulgaria, Romania and Turkey as part of Operation Reassurance.

The Canadian navy's HMCS Fredericton has set sail for the Aegean Sea to take part in the new NATO mission to fight human traffickers and reduce the number of refugees crossing from Turkey to the European Union in search of a better life.

NATO ships, assigned to Standing NATO Maritime Group Two (SNMG2), arrived in the Black Sea on Wednesday to operate and train with ships from the Bulgarian, Romanian and Turkish navies.

The training will comprise simulated anti-air and anti-submarine warfare exercises, simulated small boat attacks and basic ship handling maneuvres, NATO Maritime Command's press service reports.