Bird strike may have brought down Snowbird, investigators say

OTTAWA— A Snowbird jet that crashed in Kamloops, B.C., killing a member of the air demonstration team may have been brought down by a bird.

The single-engine Tutor jet suffered an engine problem immediately after takeoff on May 17 and flight safety investigators are looking at the possibility that a bird may have been ingested by the engine intake.

“A detailed analysis of video footage recovered for the investigation revealed one bird in very close proximity to the aircraft right engine intake … during the critical phase of takeoff,” investigators noted in an update Monday.

The pilot put the aircraft into a climb and former pilots speculate he may have trying to gain altitude after suffering a loss of power.

“The aircraft initiated a left turn, followed shortly by an abrupt steep nose low attitude. Both occupants subsequently ejected from the aircraft,” the update said.

Capt. Jennifer Casey, the team’s public affairs officer, was killed and pilot Capt. Richard MacDougall was seriously injured.

Investigators say their probe is focusing on environmental factors and the possibility of a bird strike as well as the performance of the escape system. The performance of the jet’s ejection system is under examination in an October accident involving the jet.

In that accident, the pilot reported engine problems just ahead of an air show in Georgia. He successfully ejected from the jet but reported “anomalies with the ejection sequence.”

The air demonstration team was on a morale-boosting tour with their flybys of hospitals and health-care facilities.