CF Snowbirds pull out of Abbotsford Airshow after hard landing in Fort St. John

The Canadian Forces Snowbirds will not participate in this weekend’s Abbotsford International Airshow, following a hard landing involving one of the pilots on Tuesday in Fort St. John.

The famous military aerobatics flight demonstration team was scheduled to perform Friday, Saturday, and Sunday, and are generally considered the headliners of the event.

Due to the hard landing on Tuesday, the Snowbirds are also unable to perform in Wednesday’s Penticton Peach Fest.

According the Department of National Defence, the aircraft used by the Snowbirds will not be flown “while a Royal Canadian Air Force flight safety team investigates to determine the cause of the incident.”

“They will be imminently starting their investigation into this incident. They have a very comprehensive means of going about these kinds of investigations. It’s a tried and tested and true methodology that the they use,” said Maj. Trevor Reid with 1 Canadian Air Division.

“Unfortunately, as a result of the incident in Fort St. John, the CT-114 Tutor aircraft — those are the aircraft that many Canadians understand and know that the Snowbirds fly — they are not being flown at the moment.

Read more: Snowbirds aircraft makes hard landing in Fort St. John

On Tuesday, the Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF) said the plane had trouble on take-off from Fort St. John Airport.

“The aircraft was able to land on the airfield, but suffered some damage to the aircraft in the process,” the RCAF said in a statement shortly after the hard landing.

The pilot, who was the only person on board, was not physically hurt.

“He was taken for assessment by by medical professionals following the incident, as a standard policy for the Royal Canadian Air Force,” said Reid.

The sole occupant (pilot) did not sustain physical injuries and is being assessed by medical personnel. This incident is the subject of an RCAF flight safety investigation. It is too early to say what impact this incident may have on future performances by the Snowbirds.

— Royal Canadian Air Force (@RCAF_ARC) August 2, 2022

Reid adds the teams are disappointed, but understand the reasons why they had to cancel their performances in Abbotsford and Penticton.

“Certainly, the Abbotsford Airshow, as one of the larger air shows, is a highlight for for many of the members of the Snowbirds. But it’s it’s a matter of safety first.”

The Abbotsford International Airshow is still going ahead, with many other exciting performances.

In May, 2020, a member of the Canadian Forces Snowbirds team died in a crash in a residential area of Kamloops. Capt. Jennifer Casey was killed when the aircraft went down during the Operation Inspiration tour, which was meant to salute Canadians doing their part to fight the spread of COVID-19.

Related video:

The pilot in that crash was also injured.