De Havilland Canada DHC - 5 Buffalo The de Havilland Canada DHC - 5 Buffalo is a short takeoff and landing ( STOL ) utility transport , a turboprop aircraft developed from the earlier piston - powered DHC - 4 Caribou . The aircraft has extraordinary STOL performance and is able to take off in distances much shorter than even light aircraft can manage . Design and development . The Buffalo arose from a 1962 United States Army requirement for a STOL transport capable of carrying the same payload as the CH - 47A Chinook helicopter . de Havilland Canada based its design to meet the requirement on an enlarged version of its DHC - 4 Caribou , already in large - scale service with the United States Army , to be powered by General Electric T64 turboprops rather than the Pratt & Whitney R - 2000 piston engines of the Caribou . ( It had already flown a T - 64 powered Caribou on 22 September 1961 ) . De Havilland ' s design , the DHC - 5 Buffalo , was chosen as the winner of the United States Army competition in early 1963 , with four DHC - 5s , designated YAC - 2 ( later CV - 7A and subsequently C - 8A ) ordered . The first of these aircraft made its maiden flight on on 9 April 1964 . All four aircraft were delivered in 1965 , the Buffalo carrying nearly twice the payload as the Caribou while having better STOL performance . The prototype CV - 7A was exhibited by the manufacturer at the 1965 Paris Air Show wearing US Army markings . No further US orders followed , however , as at the start of 1967 , inter - service politics lead to large fixed - wing transports being transferred to the United States Air Force , who considered themselves adequately equipped with the Fairchild Aircraft C - 123 Provider . Company data claims a takeoff distance over a obstacle of at and a landing distance of over a obstacle of at for the DHC - 5A model . In the early 1980s , de Havilland Canada attempted to modify the Buffalo for civilian use . The aircraft was to be branded as the " Transporter . " After loss of the demonstration aircraft ( SN " 103 C - GCTC " ) at the 1984 Farnborough Airshow , the project was abandoned . A production DHC - 5D Buffalo was used for breaking time - to - height records for the weight category 12 , 000 – 16 , 000 kg ( 26 , 430 – 35 , 242 lb ) on 16 February 1976 , reaching 3 , 000 m ( 9 , 836 ft ) in 2 min 12 . 75 sec , 6 , 000 m ( 19 , 672 ft ) in 4 min 27 . 5 sec and 9 , 000 m ( 29 , 508 ft ) in 8 min 3 . 5 sec . Experimental use . In the early 1970s , a NASA C - 8A Buffalo ( nicknamed " Bisontennial " in 1976 ) was fitted with a short - span Boeing wing incorporating split - flow turbofan engines based on the Rolls - Royce Spey ( providing both propulsion and augmentor airflow for the powered lift system ) . Beginning in 1972 with its first flight in this experimental configuration , this aircraft was used jointly by the NASA Ames Research Center and the Canadian Department of Industry , Trade and Commerce for STOL research . In the late 1970s and early 1980s , NASA used another C - 8A Buffalo in the Quiet Short - Haul Research Aircraft ( QSRA ) program . Its experimental wing was designed , fabricated and installed by Boeing , and was a swept , supercritical design incorporating a boundary layer control system . Instead of the standard engines , this aircraft was powered by four prototype Avco Lycoming YF102 high - bypass turbofan engines ( originally from the Northrop YA - 9 program ) mounted above the wing to take advantage of the Coandă effect . In 1980 , this aircraft participated in carrier trials aboard USS Kitty Hawk , demonstrating STOL performance without the use of catapults or arrestor gear . New production . On February 24 , 2006 , Viking Air of Victoria , British Columbia , a manufacturer of replacement parts for all out - of - production de Havilland Canada aircraft , purchased the type certificates from Bombardier Aerospace for all versions of the DHC - 1 through DHC - 7 series aircraft , giving Viking exclusive rights to manufacture and sell new aircraft of those types . In December 2008 , Viking Air indicated their intention to put the Buffalo series back into production at their home factory in Victoria , British Columbia or in Calgary , Alberta . The new production Buffalo features Pratt & Whitney Canada PW150 turboprops , a glass cockpit , enhanced vision and night vision goggle capability . The company intends to propose the aircraft as a replacement for the Royal Canadian Air Force fleet of existing DHC - 5As , and says it has received extensive interest in the type , including several letters of intent for the DHC - 5NG . Operational history . In late 1965 , one of the prototype DHC - 5s operated by the U . S . Army was deployed to Bien Hoa Air Base in South Vietnam for a three - month evaluation period , assigned to the 2nd Flight Platoon of the 92nd Aviation Company . The Royal Canadian Air Force ( merged into the Canadian Forces in 1968 ) first acquired 15 DHC - 5A designated as CC - 115 for tactical transports . These were initially operated at CFB St Hubert , QC by No . 429 Squadron in a tactical aviation role as part of Mobile Command . In 1970 , the Buffalo aircraft were transferred to a transport and rescue role with No . 442 Squadron , No . 413 Squadron and No . 424 Squadron as part of Transport Command . No . 426 Squadron also flew the aircraft for training . Some were leased back or loaned back to the factory for trials and eventually returned to military service . Three of the aircraft were also deployed on UN missions to the Middle East with No . 116 Transport Unit until 1979 . They had a white paint scheme which was retained while they were serving in domestic transport with 424 Sqn in between deployments . On 9 August 1974 , Canadian Forces CC - 115 Buffalo 115461 was shot down by a Syrian surface - to - air missile , killing all nine CF personnel on board . This represents the single biggest loss of Canadian lives on a UN mission as well as the most recent Canadian military aircraft to be shot down . In 1975 , the Buffalo dropped its tactical transport role and was converted to domestic search and rescue , except for a few that kept serving on UN missions . The initial paint scheme for the SAR converted aircraft were white and red while others still had the original drab paint . The previous drab paint and white paint were eventually replaced with the distinctive yellow and red scheme commonly seen today . The number of aircraft have been reduced to eight , with six on active service , one in storage ( recently dismantled ) and one used for battle damage training . The remaining operational Buffalos operate in the Search and Rescue role for No . 442 Squadron at CFB Comox . Air Command was renamed the " Royal Canadian Air Force " in 2011 , meaning the CC - 115 has served with the RCAF , Air Command and now the RCAF once again . The Buffalo was replaced by the CC - 130 Hercules aircraft at search - and - rescue bases in CFB Greenwood and CFB Trenton . The EADS CASA C - 295 or Alenia C - 27J Spartan were seen as the likely replacements for the Buffalo in Canadian Forces . The C - 27J has been considered for a sole - source contract by the Government of Canada . Production of the DHC - 5A ended in 1972 after sales to Brazil and Peru but restarted with the DHC - 5D model in 1974 . This variant sold to several overseas air forces beginning with Egypt . There are currently two Buffalo aircraft used commercially in Canada . They are operated by Arctic Sunwest Charters , Yellowknife , Northwest Territories . Accidents and incidents . In total , 26 hull losses have been recorded . The most notable crash involving a DHC - 5 occurred on 27 April 1993 , when a DHC - 5 carrying the Zambia national football team to a 1994 FIFA World Cup qualifier against Senegal crashed shortly after takeoff from a refuelling stop in Libreville , Gabon . All 30 people on board perished .