A member of an elite Canadian air force aerobatics team died on Sunday and another was injured when their plane crashed into a house in British Columbia during a performance to honor public efforts against the coronavirus, the military said.
According to local media, the aircraft — part of the team known as the— crashed into the front yard of a house shortly after taking off from Kamloops Airport late in the morning.
“It is with heavy hearts that we announce that one member of the CF Snowbirds team has died and one has sustained serious injuries,” the Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF) tweeted on Sunday night.
Photo: AP
The Snowbirds are Canada’s equivalent of the US Air Force Thunderbirds or UK’s Red Arrows.
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said he was “deeply saddened” by the death of Captain Jennifer Casey, who served as a spokesperson for the Snowbirds, and the injuring of Captain Richard MacDougall, one of the team’s coordinators and pilot of the aircraft who survived landing on the roof of a house.
“For the past two weeks, the Snowbirds have been flying across the country to lift up Canadians during these difficult times,” Trudeau said in a statement. “Their flyovers across the country put a smile on the faces of Canadians everywhere and make us proud.”
The morale-boosting mission is now on indefinite hold and the fleet of Tutor jets has been placed on operational pause.
Witnesses said the pilot managed to eject from the plane with a parachute before it crashed, landing on the roof of a house.
“No noise, it was strange, and 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,” witness Annette Schonewille told Radio Canada.
Additional reporting by AP
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