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A member of an elite Canadian air force aerobatics team died and another was injured when their plane crashed Sunday in Canada\u2019s west during a performance to honor public efforts against the coronavirus, the military said.<\/p>\n
According to local media, the aircraft \u2014 part of the team known as the Snowbirds \u2014 crashed into the front yard of a house in British Columbia shortly after taking off from Kamloops Airport late Sunday morning.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt is with heavy hearts that we announce that one member of the CF Snowbirds team has died and one has sustained serious injuries,\u201d the Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF) tweeted Sunday night.<\/p>\n
The person killed was identified by Canadian media as Captain Jenn Casey, a Public Affairs Officer with the Air Force.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe are deeply saddened and grieve alongside Jenn\u2019s family and friends. Our thoughts are also with the loved ones of Captain MacDougall. We hope for a swift recovery from his injuries,\u201d the RCAF said.<\/p>\n
Witnesses said the pilot managed to eject from the plane with a parachute before it crashed, landing on the roof of a house.<\/p>\n
In a video taken by a passer-by, the burning wreckage of the aircraft can be seen in front of a house as people gathered outside.<\/p>\n
Photos from the crash scene also appeared to show debris burning in front of a building, part of which was on fire.<\/p>\n
\u201cNo 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,\u201d witness Annette Schonewille told Radio Canada.<\/p>\n
Public broadcaster CBC quoted another witness, Nolyn Mcleod, as saying the plane passed about three meters (three yards) over his roof.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe saw the pilot eject like maybe two stories high, and then the plane with no pilot in it went right between me and my neighbor\u2019s house,\u201d before finally hitting the neighbor\u2019s bedroom window, he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was complete chaos. People were yelling and screaming. We thought we were getting bombed or something. That\u2019s how hectic it was.\u201d<\/p>\n
The plane was scheduled to fly over British Columbia as part of a tour dubbed \u201cOperation Inspiration,\u201d launched earlier this month to pay tribute to Canadians\u2019 efforts to battle the coronavirus pandemic.<\/p>\n
The Snowbirds\u2019 signature nine-jet formation, with trailing white smoke, began its tour in Nova Scotia and was to perform aerial displays over cities from the Atlantic to the Pacific oceans, at elevations as low as 500 feet (150 meters).<\/p>\n