Delivered new to the Canadian Armed Forces as 13809 21st Nov 1973 and transferred to the Royal Canadian Mounted Police as C-FSLR 13th May 1994. Registered N677A to Scot Aircraft Sales 23rd Dec 1994 and to C-FUGT with Ashe Aircraft 15th March 1995. Leased to Maldivian Air Taxi as 8Q-MAR 3rd Dec 2004-25th Sep 2009, Seabird Airlines as TC-SBA 8th July 2010-1st Oct 2014 and to Maldivian as 8Q-IAH 26th Nov 2014-1st Dec 2016 and again from 22nd Dec 2017 onwards

DND photo.

Ordered as a replacement for Twin Otter 13808 that was destroyed on the ground at Islamabad-Chaklala Air Base, Pakistan by the Indian Air Force in December 1971 while operating for the United Nations. Declared surplus in 1994, 13809 has been flying civilly ever since. It is 8Q-AIH with Island Aviation Services based in Malé, Maldives at the time of uploading.

My wife and I were having lunch in a diner in the small town of Golden, in the Canadian Rockies, when a CAF flight crew came in. Knowing that Golden's airport was a small one, I was curious to know what they were flying, so headed to the airport. This CC-138 was a pleasant surprise.