1 Person Dead After Canadian Forces Snowbirds Plane Crashes During Coronavirus Flyover

The popular aerobatics team Canadian Forces Snowbirds suffered the loss of a crew member when one of their planes crashed in Kamloops, B.C.

Canadian Forces Snowbirds fly over Toronto skies as part of Canadian International Airshow.
Getty

Image via Getty/Rene Johnston/Toronto Star

Canadian Forces Snowbirds fly over Toronto skies as part of Canadian International Airshow.

A Canadian Forces Snowbirds plane crashed in the residential neighborhood of Kamloops in British Columbia Sunday, killing one crew member and injuring another, the New York Times reports.

It is with heavy hearts that we announce that one member of the CF Snowbirds team has died and one has sustained serious injuries. We can confirm that we have contacted all primary family members of those involved. More information will be communicated in the near future.

— Royal Canadian Air Force (@RCAF_ARC) May 17, 2020

The Royal Canadian Air Force later stated that the injuries sustained by the surviving member were not considered life threatening. The fatal incident occurred mere moments after the aircraft took off from what is believed to be Kamloops Airport to embark on a Operation Inspiration tour across Canada in an effort to boost morale amid the COVID-19 crisis. Shannon Forrest captured the footage of one person ejecting from the Snowbird before disappearing behind the trees. 

Here's a video that was sent to us at @RadioNLNews from earlier this morning. #Kamloops pic.twitter.com/hc61YWscmQ

— Victor Mario Kaisar (@supermario_47) May 17, 2020

According to the BBC, the plane hit the front garden of a house, but debris was scattered across the neighborhood. Kenny Hinds, who lives seven doors down from the site of the crash, told the Associated Press that from his vantage point, "the parachute hadn’t fully deployed yet — it was still sort of straight up and down." 

"I just started running down the street. And I got there maybe a minute after it crashed and there was a couple of residents that had their hoses out and they were trying to put the flames out because it hit a house," Hinds said. "It looked like most of it landed in the front yard, but maybe a wing or something went through the roof perhaps." 

Rose Miller, who lives in the house directly across the street from where the plane ended up, believes the plane landed "mostly on the road, but it just exploded." Miller said the cops identified a huge piece of debris in her backyard as the ejection seat. Another photo appears to show the parachute wound up on the roof of a house. 

Pictures shared with Radio NL reporters by unnamed witnesses at the scene.

The smoke cloud photo was sent to me by Catherine, who was one of many witnesses who witnessed the crash shortly before noon today. #Kamloops #Snowbirds pic.twitter.com/wWqJlVsGNe

— Victor Mario Kaisar (@supermario_47) May 17, 2020

Miller said she spoke to the couple that lives inside the home impacted by the crash, and they are both "OK." The woman was in the basement at the time while the man was behind the house.

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