OTTAWA — For only the second time in three decades, the Snowbirds will miss performing for Canada Day celebrations after one of their jets plummeted into Lake Erie.
Col. Bruce McQuade, commanding officer of the Snowbirds’s home base at 15 Wing in Moose Jaw, has ordered the team to stand down for a few days rest before deciding when they will perform again, said spokeswoman Capt. Mary Lee.
As a result, the team will miss ceremonies in Ottawa on Thursday and will remain grounded during Canada Day festivities Sunday.
Seven members of Canada’s premier military aerobatics team returned to their base in Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan, on Tuesday as navy divers assessed damage to the plane that sank Thursday after colliding with another Snowbird during a demonstration run.
It will be only the second time in three decades that the Snowbirds haven’t flown on Canada Day at Parliament Hill, said Capt. Dave Sullivan, spokesman for CFB Moose Jaw.
Sullivan said the Snowbirds will next perform July 20 in Fort St. John, British Columbia
