We logged every RCMP Black Hawk flight for 6 weeks. Here's what we found

After weeks of near-daily flights, the RCMP's much-hyped Black Hawk helicopters have been used to stop one illegal border crossing from the U.S. into Canada since patrolling began in January, according to the RCMP and analysis by CBC News. 

The national police force leased the choppers as part of Ottawa's $1.3 billion border security upgrade, following U.S. President Donald Trump's initial threat to impose tariffs on Canada if it didn't do more to stem the southward flow of migrants and fentanyl.

CBC's visual investigations unit analyzed all the flights taken by the choppers — which use the tail registrations C-FHKS and C-FHLY, visible in footage — over six weeks. 

Using the flight tracking website ADS-B Exchange, the team logged 68 flights between Jan. 17 — when patrolling officially began — and Feb. 28. The team looked primarily at flights along the border, and excluded those that appeared to be for transit or refuelling.

It was not possible, based on the data, to determine exactly how the choppers were being deployed. The RCMP repeatedly declined to share specifics with CBC News, but said the Black Hawks give the force a "rapid response capability" for the roughly 9,000-kilometre Canada-U.S. border.

The RCMP also would not offer any specifics on the Black Hawks' involvement in stopping migrants or fentanyl entering the U.S.  

Still, it was possible to spot trends.

The choppers were in the air for just under four hours at a time on average, mostly in the daytime, and made multiple stops at different airports along their route, which often encompassed long stretches of the border.

Across the country over the same period, the RCMP stopped 15 people trying to cross illegally from the U.S. in three separate operations. In only one case was a Black Hawk involved. 

According to the RCMP, leasing the Black Hawks from Ottawa's Helicopter Transport Services cost taxpayers $5.3 million — part of an effort to mollify Trump and avert the tariffs.

It has been, to a degree, "border security theatre" said Wesley Wark, senior fellow at the Centre for International Governance Innovation, a think-tank in Waterloo, Ont. 

"We're putting up hardware into the skies, Black Hawk helicopters, we're putting up 24/7 surveillance on the border," he said. "It's designed to appease the United States."  

Tracking the illegal border crossing

On Feb. 23, C-FHKS took off from Carp Airport, near Ottawa, at around 8:49 a.m. ET, according to flight tracking data. At around 9:21 a.m., it was just east of Cornwall approaching the border between Quebec and New York state, flying at under 800 feet. 

C-FHKS had previously, over a period of several weeks, made approximately 21 flights in and around this border area.

But what made this day stand out was, for the first time in six weeks, that Black Hawk was apparently deployed in an illegal crossing operation. 

Flight tracking data became unavailable at around 9:25 a.m., but just after 10:30 a.m. the chopper re-emerged — heading northeast toward Saint-Jean Airport in Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu, Que. 

CBC News can't confirm whether this was exactly when it was involved in the operation, but RCMP said in a statement that a Black Hawk was called in that morning to help search for migrants in the woods for a rescue that lasted nearly eight hours. 

RCMP also said that 20 police officers were involved in arresting two people who were attempting to smuggle five others near the Canada-U.S. border crossing around Hinchinbrooke, Que., overnight. 

The five people were suffering from hypothermia, the release said. The driver and alleged smuggler were arrested. The latter was released on a promise to appear in court and will face charges, according to the RCMP.

Flight patterns

Flight trends also showed the Black Hawks patrolling borders in B.C., Alberta, Manitoba, Ontario and New Brunswick. 

C-FHKS stayed primarily in Eastern Canada, going between Ontario and New Brunswick. The bulk of its flights were along the border between Quebec and New York state. 

C-FHLY mostly monitored the Prairies and the West Coast, with 16 of its patrols following the Manitoba-North Dakota border. 

The Black Hawks aren't the only part of the RCMP border surveillance arsenal: It also uses drones, surveillance planes and surveillance towers. The force announced in February that it arrested migrants crossing the border illegally on Jan. 14 with the help of a surveillance plane, and released dramatic thermal footage from the operation.

More operations are expected as part of the $1.3 billion package to bolster border security.

But the choppers, both of which are more than 40 years old, have become the most visible and flashiest parts of this plan and they have security experts wondering: Why Black Hawks? And why now?

"It's not clear to me that aerial surveillance is the greatest challenge that we face at the border, in part because the United States already runs very rigorous aerial surveillance across and along the entire border," said Christian Leuprecht, professor at Royal Military College of Canada and Queen's University.