If Langley鈥檚 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 Sunday鈥檚 plane crash in Kamloops, which killed Capt. Jennifer Casey, shortly after takeoff.
鈥淛ust watching that, knowing what she must have gone through. She obviously just bailed out way too late,鈥� he said, admitting he watched the video of the crash over and over again trying to determine what must have gone wrong.
It鈥檚 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.
鈥淭he tragic thing is that we鈥檝e been flying this aircraft since 1963. What other nation would fly them that long?鈥� he posed.
Miller said that along with another accident in Atlanta last October 鈥� where a pilot ejected unhurt 鈥� this fatal crash in the B.C. Interior is likely to confirm the high-performance jets are overdue for retirement.
鈥淭hey鈥檝e got to determine if it鈥檚 worth flying these aircraft, keeping these going, and keeping it going,鈥� Miller said.
鈥淎nd because of COVID-19 and the expenditures of the federal government right now 鈥� ones it鈥檚 already committed to 鈥� there鈥檚 not going to be money to buy new aircraft. That鈥檚 my feeling,鈥� Miller assessed.
鈥淎nd, of course, with the 50th anniversary [of the Snowbirds this year], if they鈥檙e ever thinking of shutting this team down, this could be it,鈥� he added, emphasizing that he has no inside knowledge.
Miller believes the Snowbirds will be shuttered or transformed from a military to civilian team.
That鈥檚 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 didn鈥檛 eject sooner, what caused that delay, and why Casey鈥檚 parachute never opened?
鈥淭hey鈥檒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,鈥� Miller said.
鈥淭here鈥檚 just no sense that they will get another aircraft, so what do they do?鈥� he pondered.
鈥淚 think it would be very brave of the Prime Minister, since there鈥檚 so much money spent anyways, that he put some money behind this and keep the team going. I don鈥檛 know, but that doesn鈥檛 seem to be the nature of the way things are happening.鈥�
This comes from a long-time member of the Canadian Air Force. In fact, Miller served 35 years 鈥� 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 he鈥檚 fully retired now, Miller still heads up the Langley-based aerobatic team. They鈥檙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 airport鈥檚 75th anniversary a few years back.
Fraser Blues typically fly once a week or so. In particular, they鈥檝e been flying the past four Fridays, Miller noted.
鈥淏ecause of COVID-19, I鈥檝e been trying to do sort of inspirational flights. Sort of the same idea as the Snowbirds, actually. We鈥檝e been flying over various towns, like over Langley鈥� and do special manoeuvres over the airport.鈥�
Miller heard nothing about the tribute flight into Vancouver until late in the day on Monday, but said the Fraser Blues 鈥� when they get back together again next to fly 鈥� might very well do a tribute flypast over Langley.
Tonight, planes will take off from Abbotsford鈥檚 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 鈥� when the crash occurred 鈥� the Snowbirds were conducting a cross-country tour to uplift Canadians during the coronavirus outbreak.
鈥� with Black Press Media files
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