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Horrific Kamloops crash not the first Snowbirds incident

Kamloops Snowbirds crash - May 17, 2020
Firefighters tend to a Snowbirds member that landed on the roof of a Kamloops home after a jet crash. (via Brendan Kergin)

Sunday's (May 17) horrific crash in Kamloops is not the first crash the Snowbirds have been involved in.

At about 11:40 a.m., a Snowbirds' plane crashed into Kamloops' Brocklehurst neighbourhood, just seconds after two planes took off from the Kamloops Airport.

Public relations officer Capt. Jennifer Casey was killed, while another person was taken to Royal Inland Hospital with serious, but non-life-threatening injuries.

The planes were en route to Comox, after spending the first half of May travelling across Canada as part of  "Operation Inspiration," as a "salute to Canadians doing their part to fight the spread of COVID-19."

Below is a timeline of some of the more recent crashes involving Canada's Snowbirds aerial acrobatic squadron. Before Sunday, a total of eight people have died in Snowbirds' history. 

  • Oct. 13, 2019
    • Snowbirds plane crashes in Brooks, Georgia, prior to a performance in Atlanta. Capt Domon-Grenier survived the crash
  • Oct. 9, 2008
    • Snowbirds plane crashed near the Snowbirds' home base of 15 Wing Moose Jaw in Saskatchewan while on a non-exhibition flight. Cpt. Bryan Mitchell and military photographer Sgt. Charles Senecal were killed
  • May 18, 2007
    • Snowbirds plane crashed during practice flight near Great Falls, Montana. Cpt. Shawn McCaughey was killed
  • Dec. 10, 2004
    • Two Snowbirds planes crashed in midair during training near Mossbank, Sask. Cpt. Miles Selby was killed, while Cpt. Chuck Mallett suffered only minor injuries
  • June 21, 2001
    • Two Snowbirds planes collided in midair during a media shoot over Lake Erie in Ontario. Major Robert Painchaud suffered minor injuries, while his passenger sustained serious injuries
  • Dec. 10, 1998
    • Two Snowbirds planes collided in midair during a training exercise near Moose Jaw, Sask. Cpt. Michael VandenBos was killed in the crash

B.C.'s interior has seen other fatal crashes in recent years as well. 

Four people, including former Alberta premier Jim Prentice were killed in a plane crash on the evening of Oct. 13, 2016, shortly after taking off from the Kelowna International Airport. 

Three people were killed in a float-plane crash near Brenda Mine on the evening of May 13, 2012.