I’m writing today with a heavy heart.
I happened to look at my cell phone yesterday afternoon and noticed a tweet saying that a Snowbird had crashed in Kamloops B.C.. I clicked on the link which showed the amateur video of the incident that by now, I’m sure thousands of people have seen.
As the afternoon progressed, and the story spread through the news and social media, rumours that there had been a casualty emerged. I was glued to social media channels through dinnertime (I live in the EDT time zone). Sadly, those rumours proved to be the truth.
Unfortunately, as I read more and more, I started to see a lot of peoples’ negative comments; some about how old the CT-114 Tutor jets are, others about how the Snowbirds Aerobatic Flight Demo team are nothing but a group of adrenaline junkies and a waste of money. I don’t condone these types of comments, and I’m not here to spread negativity. But I do know that the team are funded through training money that the military has already allotted.
It takes a lot of skill and months of training to learn to fly in tight formations and perform the Snowbirds’ routine. I’ve witnessed firsthand how these men and women wow and excite us, and inspire younger generations to join the military, many aspiring to be a Snowbird pilot themselves in the future. The team had been doing Canada-wide flyovers to lift our spirits during lock down and pay homage to those front line workers who risk their lives every day.
Yesterday was a tragic day. I’ve seen more video footage of the incident, and it definitely appears to be some sort of engine failure that caused the accident. Unfortunately, Public Affairs Officer, Captain Jennifer Casey was killed in the crash. Today, I grieve alongside many other Canadians. My heartfelt sympathies go out to the entire CF Snowbird team and their families after this devastating loss.
Here is a short video I took of the Snowbirds a few years ago: Snowbird formation
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