Bird strike likely cause of deadly Snowbirds crash: report
Posted June 1, 2020 9:12 am.
Last Updated June 1, 2020 9:47 am.
KAMLOOPS (NEWS 1130) — A bird strike may have caused the Snowbirds crash that killed Capt. Jenn Casey on May 17, according to a new report from Royal Canadian Air Force investigators.
The preliminary report, released Monday, is based on video footage showing what may be a bird close to one of the jet’s engines right before the incident.
The Air Force says it is also examining the Snowbirds’ cockpit escape system.
A preliminary report on the CF Snowbirds crash that killed Capt. Jennifer Casey last month in Kamloops points to a birdstrike as the probable case. "The investigation is focusing on environmental factors (birdstrike) as well as the performance of the escape system." pic.twitter.com/0PCiweVz8Z
— Sonia Aslam (@SoniaSAslam) June 1, 2020
Casey was killed and the pilot, Capt. Richard MacDougall, was hurt when their plane nose-dived into a residential neighbourhood in Kamloops shortly after take-off.
The Snowbirds air demonstration team was scheduled to leave Kamloops for Comox as part of Operation INSPIRATION, meant to travel across Canada to support COVID-19 frontline workers.
Casey, 35, was a former journalist who served as a public affairs officer for the air force.
Her body has since been returned to her hometown of Halifax and a petition calling for the airport road in Kamloops to be renamed in her honour has hit 44,000 signatures.
