Qualla: CFB Comox

CFB Comox: Introduction

Sat, 21 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Anne Delong, CC BY-SA 4.0. On June 5, 1979, a Northwest Airlines Boeing 747, chartered by the U.S. military and carrying 368 active-duty personnel and their families from Travis Air Force Base to Japan and South Korea, was passing Cape Scott at the northern tip of Vancouver Island when fire broke out in one of its engines. Efforts to extinguish the flames failed. The crew declared an emergency and requested permission to land at CFB Comox, a military airfield on the Comox Valley that the jumbo jet was never designed to visit. The 747 touched down safely, fire warning lights still flashing in the cockpit, and no one was injured. Base officials, well practiced at hosting large numbers of Canadian Forces personnel, ensured the 368 passengers and 13 crew were comfortable while awaiting a replacement aircraft. It was the first time a jumbo jet had operated into the field.

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Image: Anne Delong | CC BY-SA 4.0

CFB Comox: Built Against an Empire

Sat, 21 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Fil.Al from Comox, Canada, CC BY 2.0. The Royal Air Force constructed the airfield at Comox in spring 1942, choosing the site for its strategic position guarding the Pacific approaches to North America against the Imperial Japanese Navy. In 1943, the Royal Canadian Air Force took control and renamed it RCAF Station C...

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Image: Fil.Al from Comox, Canada | CC BY 2.0

CFB Comox: Submarine Hunters and Rescue Angels

Sat, 21 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Anne Delong, CC BY-SA 4.0. Today CFB Comox is home to 19 Wing and two operational squadrons that define its dual mission. The 407 Long Range Patrol Squadron flies the Lockheed CP-140 Aurora, a maritime patrol aircraft designed to hunt submarines and monitor Canada's vast Pacific coastline. The 442 Transpor...

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Image: Anne Delong | CC BY-SA 4.0

CFB Comox: Were the Americans Invading?

Sat, 21 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Fil.Al from Comox, Canada, CC BY 2.0. CFB Comox has hosted some memorable visitors. In 1954, a Pinetree Line radar station was established on the base, operated by the 51 Aircraft Control and Warning Squadron, part of the continent-wide early warning network designed to detect Soviet bombers. It closed in 1958 as mor...

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Image: Fil.Al from Comox, Canada | CC BY 2.0

CFB Comox: Shared Runway, Shared Valley

Sat, 21 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Anne Delong, CC BY-SA 4.0. CFB Comox shares its runway with the Comox Valley Airport, a civilian terminal serving commercial flights from WestJet, Air Canada, Pacific Coastal Airlines, and Flair Airlines. The airport handled over 400,000 passengers in 2019 before the pandemic cut that number in half. The b...

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Image: Anne Delong | CC BY-SA 4.0