Canadian Jet Crashes at US Air Base

[h290master]

Canadian Jet Crashes at U.S. Air Base
Associated Press | May 19, 2007
GREAT FALLS, Montana - A Canadian Forces Snowbirds jet crashed, killing the pilot, during rehearsal for weekend performances at a U.S. Air Force base in Montana, the Federal Aviation Administration said.

The plane, one of five practicing maneuvers over Malmstrom Air Force Base, broke from formation and plummeted Friday afternoon.

"It just smacked into the ground, and there was a big ball of flames," said Gillian Scarber, who had been watching the rehearsal, according to the Great Falls Tribune.

Smoke drifted across the highway as emergency crews raced to the scene, she said. The cause of the crash was under investigation.

The Canadian military identified the pilot as Capt. Shawn McCaughey, 31, of Candiac, Quebec. He had been with the Snowbirds for two years, and was the sixth Snowbirds pilot killed in a crash since 1972.

Maj. Robert Mitchell, the Snowbirds' commanding officer, said McCaughey was performing a "routine maneuver" - flying upside down about 300 feet (91 meters) off the ground - when his single-engine jet went down. McCaughey, the only person in the jet, did not eject.

The team had been in the air for about 45 minutes, said Mitchell, who was flying the lead plane. McCaughey made no radio contact and did not indicate he was having trouble, he said.

"Shawn was a professional officer, talented pilot and dear friend," Mitchell said. "Our team is devastated, and we will miss him."

A Canadian Forces flight safety team was traveling Saturday to Montana to investigate the crash, and Snowbirds team members planned to remain at Malmstrom to help, he said.

"Our thoughts and prayers are with the team, and our resources are at their disposal," said Malmstrom's wing commander, Col. Sandy Finan.

The Snowbirds perform high-speed, low-altitude maneuvers in nine Canadair CT-114 Tutors and are part of the Canadian Air Force.

The team had been scheduled to perform Saturday and Sunday at an open house and sport event at Malmstrom. An event organizer said the open house would continue, but the Snowbirds would not perform.

"The team will take an operational pause to remember Shawn McCaughey like we need to, and then we will go back and do the rest of the show season," said Col. Richard Foster, commander of 15 Wing Moose Jaw.

Foster said he had known the veteran pilot since before he became an instructor at Moose Jaw, the squadron's home base in Saskatchewan.

"He was very jovial, very caring," Foster said. "He did his job very well. He was a very credible pilot and a good friend."

Another witness to the crash, Gregg Dart, told the Tribune the planes were flying low and the jet went down quickly.

"It was less than a second before it hit the ground," said Dart, head football coach for Great Falls High School. "There was a thud, then the shock wave of it hitting. After that, there was a big black cloud and the smell of jet fuel.

"The two planes came back, circled over the top and then went on. I didn't see a chute - that was the first thing I looked for - but I didn't see anything. And they were so low that I can't imagine anyone getting out."

The Snowbirds have been compared to the Navy's Blue Angels. They fly their planes almost daily, year-round - logging 3,700 hours annually.

A Blue Angels pilot died in a crash last month in Beaufort, South Carolina.

[FlyingKiwi]

That's sad; I seem to remember they had another accident not that long ago during a training flight?