Captain dies as her display jet falls from sky
A CANADIAN air force officer died after the jet in which she was flying ploughed into a street of houses during an aerobatic display.
Captain Jennifer Casey was a passenger in a CT-114 Tutor jet that plunged towards the ground shortly after taking off.
The jet was part of the Canadian Snowbirds, which have been touring their home country to boost morale during the Covid19 pandemic.
Video footage shows a pair of the jets taking off. ‘The one plane continued and the other one, there was two puffs, it looked like puffs of smoke,’ said witness Annette Schonewille.
‘Then the plane just did a cartwheel and fell right out of the sky. Just boom, straight down, and then a burst of black, black smoke.’
Captain Casey, a Royal Canadian Air Force public affairs officer, was confirmed to have died after the crash in Kamloops, British Columbia, on Sunday.
The pilot, Captain Richard MacDougall, was seen ejecting from the plane and sustained serious but not life-threatening injuries. It is not clear whether Captain Casey had also ejected.
Most of the aircraft crashed into a front garden in Kamloops, though there were reports of a wing smashing into a house.
The Snowbirds have been touring the country as part of Operation Inspiration – designed to ‘salute Canadians doing their part’ to fight the spread of coronavirus.
Prime minister Justin Trudeau said: ‘I am deeply saddened by the tragic loss of one Canadian Armed Forces member, Captain Jennifer Casey, and one injured, Captain Richard MacDougall.
For the past two weeks, the Snowbirds have been flying across the country to lift up Canadians during these difficult times. Their flyovers put a smile on the faces of Canadians everywhere and make us proud.’
Two weeks ago, Captain Casey appeared on a radio show where she once worked as a producer to announce the Snowbirds were ‘prepping fast and furious’ for upcoming performances.
The CT-114 Tutor was the Royal Canadian Air Force’s standard training aircraft between the early 1960s and 2000.
Most have been retired, though a handful remain in use with the Snowbirds.