Skip to content

‘We salute you’: Family mourns Capt. Jennifer Casey after fatal Snowbirds crash

Snowbirds public affairs officer was killed in a crash in Kamloops
21602384_web1_200519-BPD-KTW-petition-snowbird-road_1
Capt. Jennifer Casey, the Snowbirds’ public affairs officer, was killed in the May 17, 2020, crash of a squadron jet in Kamloops. This photo of her was taken in the Okanagan during a July 2019 visit by the team. (Mark Brett/Black Press Media)

The family of the service member who lost her life in a Snowbirds crash in Kamloops issued a statement celebrating her life through the Canadian Armed Forces Wednesday.

In it, the family of Capt. Jennifer Casey said she was “always one for adventure,” and described her journey from being a journalist in Halifax to her role as a public affairs officer for the CAF.

“Using her experience and media connections, Jenn was great at telling the stories of the brave men and women that serve Canada at home and abroad,” the family said.

“Jennifer was more than a granddaughter, daughter, sister, and friend to many, she was a story teller, a role that she embraced with passion and skill.”

The family’s statement spoke of Casey’s love of serving with her “second family” in the military. Casey had joined the CAF in 2014 and began serving with the Snowbirds in late 2018.

“We share her loss with the Canadian Forces Snowbirds, 431 Air Demonstration Squadron, a team that she proudly served in a job she truly loved,” the statement said.

Casey was killed in a crash in Kamloops on Sunday, shortly after the Snowbirds took off from the airport en route to Comox. The crash left the pilot, Capt. Richard MacDougall, with serious but not life threatening injuries.

“As she makes her way back to Nova Scotia to her final resting place, we ask those that knew and loved Jenn to cherish the memories that you have of her and continue to bask in the light that she shone on everyone’s life. She is gone but will never be forgotten. Captain Jennifer Casey, we salute you.”

READ MORE: One dead in Canadian Forces Snowbirds plane crash in Kamloops

PHOTOS: Snowbirds pause flights as military, public mourn service member killed in crash


@katslepian

katya.slepian@bpdigital.ca

Like us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter.

Want to support local journalism during the pandemic? Make a donation here.