It was one month ago today that a Snowbirds Tutor jet crashed shortly after taking off from Kamloops Airport, killing Capt. Jenn Casey, the Snowbirds public affairs officer.
Nolan McLeod lives near the crash site in Brocklehurst, and he tells NL News that some residents are still on the edge.
“Planes coming overhead still bother us. Sometimes they come so low, that they sound exactly like the plane that was crashing,” he said, as a plane was flying over. “The sound of it just triggers the same trauma that I felt when the plane went down, and I saw it coming straight towards my house. It’s not the same as it was before.”
“We’re all kind of on the same boat. We’re still trying to kind of move on from what happened, but it doesn’t seem like anyone is super traumatized by it.”
McLeod previously told NL News that it was a miracle that no one on the ground was hurt when the plane crashed. He says almost every day there are people driving by the area asking neighbours about the crash that happened on May 17.
“They come like all the time, throughout the day and kind of just sit in the middle of the road and bother people that actually had to be here and watch it happen, McLeod added.
“It’s ignorant. They just come into the yards and stuff and look for bits and pieces and try and ask what happened.”
Maxine Hynes lives next door to the house where the plane crashed, and told NL News that she and her husband bought their house the day before the crash. Their house though wasn’t damaged, but she says they thought it was a joke at first when people told them about the crash next door, before they realized what had happened.
As for the house that was damaged, McLeod says he hasn’t spoken to the people that lived there, but notes it appears that they’ve been in and out trying to salvage whatever they can.
Kamloops city staff have begun planning a permanent memorial at the airport to honour Capt. Jenn Casey. Meanwhile, the pilot Capt. Richard MacDougall is back home recovering from the injuries he sustained.
The crash is being investigated, but a preliminary report from the Royal Canadian Air Force indicates a bird strike was the likely cause.
– With files from Colton Davies
It’s been a month today since the tragic @CFSnowbirds plane crash in #Kamloops, when it crashed into this house on Glenview Ave. A quieter day today, with the odd plane flying over and the odd looky-loo still going by. pic.twitter.com/srwJFR9P60
— Colton Davies (@ColtonDavies_) June 17, 2020
