Alumni recall flying with Snowbirds as death of team member mourned
WestJet pilot’s RCAF highlight was tour of duty with Snowbirds
CALGARY — David Deere remembers glancing up at the sky during his graduation from the Royal Military College of Canada to see the Snowbirds flying over.
“Ever since then, I was in awe of them,” he said.
The Calgary man joined the military in 1980 and would go on to fly CF-18 fighter jets during the Gulf War.
Deere, now 60, served in the Royal Canadian Air Force for 17 years and has been a pilot for WestJet for two decades.
But it was a tour of duty with the Snowbirds from 1994 to 1995 that he counts as one of the highlights of his career.
Flying in 75 air shows a season across North America, he said the team’s role was one of fostering unity. Each pilot sought to “instil pride and positivity of being Canadian,” Deere said, as they would touch down in small towns across Canada.
When they weren’t in the air, the team members would spend time signing autographs at malls, speaking to children at schools and visiting patients in hospitals.
“It was meeting the people across the country that was the most special for me. We got to see Canada in a way that we never imagined,” he said.
For Deere, that’s why hearing of a fatal crash involving the Snowbirds team on Sunday hit so hard.
Capt. Jennifer Casey, a public affairs officer with the Canadian Armed Forces, died when a Snowbird plane crashed in a residential area of Kamloops, B.C., as the team continued its cross-country tour meant to inspire hope amid the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.
Capt. Richard MacDougall, the pilot of the plane, sustained non-life-threatening injuries.
Casey, a former Halifax journalist, had joined the Snowbirds in November 2018.
Calgary Mayor Naheed Nenshi called it “an unspeakable loss for us all,” noting Calgarians experienced feelings of “shock, grief and support,” in the wake of the tragedy.
Deere called the news “gutwrenching.”
“It was so painful to see that,” he said.
“You know what the team is going through. You feel that pain. It’s just devastating.”
Premier Jason Kenney — who served as defence minister in the final months of the Stephen Harper government — expressed his condolences, adding the Snowbirds “are a magnificent Canadian symbol and play an important role in connecting Canada’s military to the civilian population.”
Bob Wade, who served with the Snowbirds from 1973 to 1974, said he could relate to that feeling.
Wade, who flew for 39 years, joined the team just a few years after it took off in 1971, at a time when he said the Royal Canadian Air Force wanted to demonstrate the capabilities of Canadian military pilots.
“It breaks my heart when I see a young lady that’s so capable and so accomplished lose her life on a simple transit mission,” said Wade, who lives in Calgary.
He said the Snowbirds are “the best recruiting tool” the Canadian Armed Forces has.
“This team does fill a very useful purpose in Canada. It’s the reason most pilots join the air force, because they watch the Snowbirds,” he said.
“It creates an impression of being a very fun, dramatic, exciting lifestyle. I think that attracts young people.”
He referred to the aerobatics team as a “unique” element within the air show performance industry.
“Rather than noise and speed, it’s more like a ballet,” said Wade.
“It’s also really important to the Canadian public because they take a lot of pride in their military. It’s a demonstration of military professionalism.”
Deere said those like Casey have helped inspire a new generation, “not just to push to a career in the military,” he said, but also in creating “a pride in your country that goes above and beyond waving a flag and dropping bombs.”
“It was just magic being on the team. We all knew, deeply, that we were representatives, ambassadors of the country and the Royal Canadian Air Force,” said Deere.
“We had an impact, (the public) had an impact on us. It was definitely a back-andforth.”