If Langleysa国际传媒檚 George Miller had known about it in time, he might very well have asked to fly among the 35 pilots performing a memorial Snowbirds flyby over the Lower Mainland skies tonight.
Miller, a retired Canadian Air Force pilot and one of the early Snowbirds leaders, was mortified to learn of Sundaysa国际传媒檚 plane crash in Kamloops, which killed Capt. Jennifer Casey, shortly after takeoff.
sa国际传媒淛ust watching that, knowing what she must have gone through. She obviously just bailed out way too late,sa国际传媒� he said, admitting he watched the video of the crash over and over again trying to determine what must have gone wrong.
Itsa国际传媒檚 been almost 50 years since he flew with the Snowbirds, in the same CT-114Tutor jets flown today.
Miller fears the age of the aircraft might have played a key role in the tragic crash that killed Casey and seriously injured pilot Capt. Richard MacDougall.
Just like others, Miller is in the dark about what actually caused the crash. He speculates it could have been a technical or mechanical issue.
sa国际传媒淭he tragic thing is that wesa国际传媒檝e been flying this aircraft since 1963. What other nation would fly them that long?sa国际传媒� he posed.
Miller said that along with another accident in Atlanta last October sa国际传媒� where a pilot ejected unhurt sa国际传媒� this fatal crash in the B.C. Interior is likely to confirm the high-performance jets are overdue for retirement.
sa国际传媒淭heysa国际传媒檝e got to determine if itsa国际传媒檚 worth flying these aircraft, keeping these going, and keeping it going,sa国际传媒� Miller said.
sa国际传媒淎nd because of COVID-19 and the expenditures of the federal government right now sa国际传媒� ones itsa国际传媒檚 already committed to sa国际传媒� theresa国际传媒檚 not going to be money to buy new aircraft. Thatsa国际传媒檚 my feeling,sa国际传媒� Miller assessed.
sa国际传媒淎nd, of course, with the 50th anniversary [of the Snowbirds this year], if theysa国际传媒檙e ever thinking of shutting this team down, this could be it,sa国际传媒� he added, emphasizing that he has no inside knowledge.
Miller believes the Snowbirds will be shuttered or transformed from a military to civilian team.
Thatsa国际传媒檚 simply conjecture on his part, he reiterated, clarifying that the first job at hand will be to investigate the cause of the crash, and figure out why it stalled and barrelled down to the ground.
Miller is wondering why the two didnsa国际传媒檛 eject sooner, what caused that delay, and why Caseysa国际传媒檚 parachute never opened?
sa国际传媒淭heysa国际传媒檒l have to go through that whole process, like how did it work out? What could have been done better? And whether there was any mistakes made, or what the mechanical problems were, and so on. Then determine what to be done with the team,sa国际传媒� Miller said.
sa国际传媒淭heresa国际传媒檚 just no sense that they will get another aircraft, so what do they do?sa国际传媒� he pondered.
sa国际传媒淚 think it would be very brave of the Prime Minister, since theresa国际传媒檚 so much money spent anyways, that he put some money behind this and keep the team going. I donsa国际传媒檛 know, but that doesnsa国际传媒檛 seem to be the nature of the way things are happening.sa国际传媒�
This comes from a long-time member of the Canadian Air Force. In fact, Miller served 35 years sa国际传媒� including a stint as the first national team leader of the Snowbirds in 1973 to 1974.
In more recent years, he served as manager of the Langley Regional Airport, worked a short stint with the Pitt Meadows Airport, and founded the Fraser Blues formation flying team.
While hesa国际传媒檚 fully retired now, Miller still heads up the Langley-based aerobatic team. Theysa国际传媒檙e a four-member team, including his son Guy Miller, who still perform at a number of special events including missing man formations, large funerals, and the 75-aircraft flyby during Langley airportsa国际传媒檚 75th anniversary a few years back.
Fraser Blues typically fly once a week or so. In particular, theysa国际传媒檝e been flying the past four Fridays, Miller noted.
sa国际传媒淏ecause of COVID-19, Isa国际传媒檝e been trying to do sort of inspirational flights. Sort of the same idea as the Snowbirds, actually. Wesa国际传媒檝e been flying over various towns, like over Langleysa国际传媒� and do special manoeuvres over the airport.sa国际传媒�
Miller heard nothing about the tribute flight into Vancouver until late in the day on Monday, but said the Fraser Blues sa国际传媒� when they get back together again next to fly sa国际传媒� might very well do a tribute flypast over Langley.
Tonight, planes will take off from Abbotsfordsa国际传媒檚 airport at 6:30 p.m, and fly over Langley, White Rock, Surrey, Maple Ridge, Pitt Meadows, Coquitlam, Port Moody, the North Shore, Vancouver and Burnaby before dispersing to their home airports.
The flight is being dubbed Operation Backup Inspiration, since sa国际传媒� when the crash occurred sa国际传媒� the Snowbirds were conducting a cross-country tour to uplift Canadians during the coronavirus outbreak.
sa国际传媒� with Black Press Media files
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