Snowbirds

Two planes from the Snowbirds, the Canadian Air Force's air demonstration team collided this morning. One pilot was killed, and another ejected from his aircraft and is currently in hospital.

The Snowbirds are spectacular to watch. I don't know how many times I've seen them, but it's certainly got to be somewhere around twenty. One of those times, unfortunately, had an outcome not unlike today's accident.

It's been a birthday tradition of mine for years to go to the Canadian International Air Show Labour Day weekend at the CNE. At first, my dad would drive me and a few friends down for the show, later I drove myself and when I lived in Toronto I'd bike or take transit to get there. This year, SouthernKitten and I went to Toronto for it.

In 1989 I went down to celebrate my 14th birthday. DevilBoy was definitely along for the trip, and I think Eggman may have been, too. We arrived and made our way to my favourite spot on a gravel beach. We got settled he show started with a performance by the Snowbirds. The first part of the performance went smoothly, then the team went into a maneuver called the "Upward Downward Bomb burst" involving half the team heading up from low level, and the other half heading from higher up, passing each other then switching on the smoke and splitting up. Normally it was very spectacular looking.

I first noticed that this was not a normal show when I saw the splash of a plane sized object going into the lake. At first I thought one of the planes had dropped something as part of the show. Then I noticed that another was on fire. That pilot ejected, and there was another splash as that plane went into the lake. Moments later we noticed a parachute drifting down. Once he hit the water, the downed aviator was picked up right away.

The crowd, including everyone in my group, was stunned. Had we just seen what we thought we had? Would they announce what had happened? Would the rest of the show be cancelled? What was going on?

I wouldn't learn the details of the accident until I got home. Apparently it's air show tradition to continue an air show (assuming it's safe to do so) after an accident, so the show went on.

Eventually I learned what had happened. Two of the planes on their way down had collided. Captain. Shane Antaya whose hometown was here in Windsor, never pulled up. Major Dan Dempsey, the team lead, pulled out of the maneuver only to have his aircraft catch fire. He ejected safely, and was hospitalized due to burns suffered in the fire.

That was a sad day for the team, just as today was. But they recovered and took to the skies again a short time later, as I know they will this time.