The City of Kamloops, B.C. is installing a memorial to Halifax’s Captain Jenn Casey.
The Snowbirds public affairs officer died in a jet crash during Operation Inspiration in 2020, early in the COVID-19 pandemic.
Investigators found a bird had flown into the aircraft’s engine shortly after takeoff and the plane was too low for her to safely deploy her parachute.
Captain Richard MacDougall was seriously injured in the crash.
A metal sculpture of a Tutor Snowbird plane is being installed next to the Kamloops Airport at Fulton Field Park, which is set to open later this year.
Artist and May She Soar monument creator, Sarah Holliday says “The maple leaves are meant to be a mosaic of our collective grief at the loss of Jennifer Casey, while the branches represent Canadians joining together to lift up the memory of a hero.
The three supporting pillars are symbolic of the specific communities that rallied around this tragedy, namely the City of Kamloops (its citizens, officials, first responders, health care workers, and the Tk’emlúps te Secwépemc community); Captain Casey’s hometown of Halifax, Nova Scotia; and the Canadian Armed Forces.”
