The Community
Press Telling your story
Volume 112, Issue 47
Wednesday, May 27, 2020
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Flying tribute to Capt. ts o il p l a c lo m o fr y e s a C n Jen
PHOTO COURTESY JADENE MAH
Planes wait to take off from Camrose Airport to join a tribute flight east down Highway 13 to honour the Snowbirds’ Captain Jenn Casey, who was killed in a recent accident. The flight path also included a special flyover to honour local pilot Brian Lockhart, a member of the Iron Creek Flying Club who passed away last fall in a flying accident. In all 15 pilots took park, from Iron Creek Flying Club, Camrose Flying Club, and two other pilots from outside the local communities. Leslie Cholowsky Editor
A group of the Iron Creek Flying Club member pilots were talking over the weekend about the recent death of Capt. Jenn Casey of the Snowbirds, and also the passing of their friend and club member Brian Lockhart, who would have celebrated his birthday this Sunday, May 24. Local pilot Doug Lindseth took part in those discussions, and says that the idea came about to honour both with a special tribute. “How about we do a flight for Capt. Casey?” was the idea that came out of the discussions, and became a reality as local pilots signed on to do just that. When the Snowbirds visited Flagstaff last year, they came from Springbank Airport near Calgary, and followed Highway 13 from Hardisty to Camrose, flying low and turning on the smoke trails as they passed over each community in their path as they took in the lay of the land before landing at Camrose Airport. Lindseth says that local pilots wanted to honour that gesture, wanting to do their own fly-by, but this time in the opposite direction. As word got out, pilots from the Camrose Flying Club wanted in, as did some pilots from as far as Innisfail, Cooking Lake, Wetaskiwin, and Hanna. In all, 15 pilots were lined up on the Camrose runway waiting to take off and begin the trip east starting at 7 p.m. Sunday. Lindseth and fellow Iron Creek pilot Gary Steadman both say that this was no attempt to do any stunt flying or forma-
tions; as Lindseth says, “It was a gaggle of pilots wanting to pay tribute.” Both stress that safety was a key issue in the tribute flight, with proper distancing between takeoffs and during the flight. The plan was to follow Highway 13 east, dropping lower when flying over each community, and a special detour was planned near Strome, when pilots turned north to fly over the Lockhart farm. Lindseth says, “Having the Snowbirds here was a pretty big deal for anyone who is involved in flying and for our club, and for Camrose for the times they hosted them.” He says that Capt. Jenn Casey, who acted as the Public Affairs Officer for the Snowbirds, accompanied the first two pilots from the team who touched down in Camrose last summer, where a group of first responders had gathered to receive special training for the show. “She was out of the plane and shaking hands with everyone right away,” says Lindseth. “She seemed like she put everyone else ahead of herself, she genuinely thanked everyone there for their service, and showed them the utmost respect.” Lindseth says Capt. Casey’s attitude was essentially the “tip of the spear,” from everyone in the Snowbird organization. Anyone who attended the meet and greet held the night before the Snowbirds over Flagstaff performance got that same impression. “You have that one person out front who sets the tone for the rest,” says Lindseth, “and that was Capt. Casey. “We only met her for a couple of days, but she left quite an impression.”
He says as a group the Snowbirds were so open and welcoming to fellow pilots and members of the public. “It would be hard to find another group of such energetic, accomplished young people.” Lindseth says that Casey’s death hit the local pilots pretty hard, as well as the Camrose Flying Club members, especially coming on the heels of the loss of one of their own members, Lockhart. “This didn’t start out as something we were doing for spectators. For me, it was something I wanted to do for myself. “Afterwards, I had the same feeling as I had when a bunch of us got together to combine out at Lockhart’s place last fall; it was a real mix of emotions. I was happy that we had accomplished something, but still sad for the reason we were doing it.” Jadene Mah of Camrose played a huge role in bringing about Snowbirds over Flagstaff, and in the Camrose performances, and worked with Casey quite a lot. Lindseth says, “Jadene said Jenn would have loved this, and would have promoted it as the best thing ever; we all got that impression from her.” He said flying in Sunday’s tribute was partly about flying for himself, and partly for everyone else, and “especially for Jenn and Brian. I definitely felt that there were more than two people in the cockpit.” He says most people had passengers for the tribute flight. Lindseth and Steadman both say that even though this wasn’t a performance, or any kind of stunt flying, they were gratified by the response from the ground.
“We passed groups of people who were gathered on the ground in different communities waving as we flew by,” says Lindseth. “That was pretty great.” In particular, he said a group of people on East Lynn Road between Daysland and Bawlf were waving a big Canadian Flag. “That was really special to see.” Lynne Jenkinson and her husband Austin were part of that group, and it was Austin who had the flag. Jenkinson says, “It was so cool that people from this little place held a tribute, it shows how much the Snowbirds mean to Canada.” She grew up at CFB Cold Lake where her father served in search and rescue, so airplanes have always been special to her, and says with her background in broadcast journalism, she had something in common with Casey, too. Lindseth summed up the experience with this: “We didn’t do much but go flying, but it was the spirit behind the flight that meant something to us all.”
Just a couple of the planes that flew down Highway 13 in a special tribute. Top plane is piloted by Gary Steadman.