A fatal plane crash on Sunday (May 17) claimed the life of a Snowbird member in the middle of a cross-country tour to inspire Canadians.
Today (May 19), Prince George is honouring Capt. Jennifer Casey and her service to the nation by lowering the flags to flag-mast at city hall.
Capt. Casey was a passenger in the Snowbirds’ plane that crashed near the Kamloops Airport.
The demonstration team was putting on free airshows from coast to coast in ‘Operation Inspiration’ to boost morale during the COVID-19 pandemic.
She served as the Snowbirds’ public relations officer since November 2018 and joined the Canadian Armed Forces in August 2014.
Prior to her career in the skies, Capt. Casey was a radio journalist, anchor and producer in Nova Scotia and Ontario.
An investigation is set to begin shortly by the Royal Canadian Air Force Flight Safety Team.
“Our pilots are highly trained to do this manoeuvre. Not only that, we brief it before takeoff every time. What you saw yesterday was the confluence of a whole bunch of intersecting circumstances where it led to our worst-case scenario,” said Lt.-Col Mike French in Moose Jaw, Sask. yesterday (May 18).
“Our priorities are always the safety of the public, the safety or our personnel, and the protection of our equipment and property. In this case, all those options evaporated before Capt. Rich MacDougall ordered the ejection.”
The Snowbirds remain grounded as part of an “operational pause.”
This was the first Snowbird crash in B.C. and the seventh incident in the last 25 years.
