‘It is hard for the team to go back’: Snowbirds return to Kamloops, heavy with emotion

KAMLOOPS — While residents of Kamloops were ready and eager to throw open their arms in welcome to the Canadian Forces Snowbirds Tuesday afternoon (May 4), the team itself had a difficult time returning.

The Snowbirds aerial demonstration team last touched down in Kamloops nearly one year ago, May 16, 2020, as part of its Operation Inspiration, meant to lift the spirits of Canadians in the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic.

A day later, as the team took off to its next destination, a bird strike resulted in one of the CT-114 Tutor jets plummeting into a Brocklehurst yard. Capt. Jennifer Casey, the team’s public affairs officer, was killed. The pilot, Capt. Richard MacDougall, was seriously injured.

For three months after the crash, the remaining Snowbirds aircraft sat grounded at Kamloops Airport as authorities investigated. Finally in August, the aircraft returned to their base at CFB Moose Jaw.

They did not return to Kamloops until Tuesday, performing a brief formation fly-by before a refuelling stopover en route from Calgary to CFB Comox.

The Snowbirds’ new public affairs officer, Capt. Gabriel Ferris, said the return is not altogether joyful for Casey’s surviving colleagues.

“We wanted to show our appreciation for what the city and the population did for us last year,” Ferris told CFJC Today. “It is hard for the team to go back, I’m not going to hide it. A lot of the team members are having a difficult time, but it’s important for us to show the population that we appreciate very much what they did for us last year.”

In the weeks following last May’s crash, Kamloops residents reached out to express comfort and love to the Snowbirds. Mayor Ken Christian spoke of how the demonstration team and the city will forever be bonded by the tragedy.

Ferris said ironically, that deep connection was one reason the Snowbirds chose not to publicize the visit in advance.

“That (love is) always there. We know it. We even know that it’s a little bit… I don’t want to say too much, but just be careful because there are still COVID regulations. We want to make sure that people are still following them and not gathering too much at the airport.

“Everyone here has been talking to me about how the population has a super warm welcome, every time we go there.”