Those who knew Capt. Jenn Casey are remembering her as a kind person and a hard worker.
Casey was killed when an aircraft with the Canadian Forces Snowbirds demonstration team crashed in Kamloops, B.C., on Sunday.
She was the team’s public affairs officer after joining the CAF in 2014 and the Snowbirds in 2018.
“I was lucky enough to get to know Capt. Jenn Casey over the past year,” Global News reporter Paul Johnson said.
“Anybody in the media in Canada who has done a story on the Snowbirds the past couple of years probably knew Capt. Casey.
“She was a very capable and wonderful ambassador, not just for the Snowbirds but for the Royal Canadian Air Force and the Canadian Forces in general.”
Johnson had been working on a documentary about the Snowbirds over the past year and worked closely with Casey to help tell the story of the Snowbirds and the 50th anniversary of flying the CT-114 Tutor aircraft.
Talking to Johnson in January, Casey said in order to fly with the Snowbirds you have to have “excellent situational awareness.”
“Keeping track of what’s going on, what you should be doing next, if something goes wrong, what do you do?” she said.
Johnson said that in conversations with Casey, she always described B.C. as being like a second home for her. Originally from Halifax, Casey would always finish off training with the Snowbirds in B.C. just before air show season started in Comox.
“For those who had the pleasure of working with her, we’re certainly going to miss her very much,” Johnson said.