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Penticton Peach Fest Peach Bin races named after Snowbird pilot Jenn Casey

Casey competed in the Peach Bin races in 2019 with the Snowbirds team
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This year the Peach Fest Peach Bin races are named after Canadian Forces Snowbird pilot and communications officer Capt. Jennifer Casey who lost her life flying above Kamloops in May 2020. Casey competed in the 2019 Peach Bin Races on the Snowbirds team.

The opening of Penticton Peach Fest begins with the Jennifer Casey Memorial Peach Bin Races starting at noon in the 100 block of Main Street.

Come out and cheer on the competitors.

This year the Peach Bin races are named after Canadian Forces Snowbird pilot and communications officer Capt. Jennifer Casey, who lost her life flying above Kamloops in 2020.

The race is held annually on the opening day of the festival. Casey competed, as a member of the Snowbirds Team, in the 2019 Peach Bin Race.

“Peachfest pays homage to her and to what the Snowbirds represent to Canadians,” said representatives of Peach Fest.

Casey was killed in a crash on May 2020, shortly after the Snowbirds took off from the airport en route to Comox. The crash also left the co-pilot, Capt. Richard MacDougall, with serious but not life-threatening injuries.

An investigation revealed a single bird flew into the Snowbird engine.

“Upon loss of power, the pilot initiated a climb straight ahead and then a turn back towards the airport.”

At this point, the plane entered an aerodynamic stall and the pilot gave the order to abandon the aircraft. Both Casey and MacDougall ejected from the jet at low altitude, and neither had enough time for their parachutes to activate fully.

The Snowbirds cancelled their show on the opening night of the 2022 Penticton Peach Fest because one of their aircraft crashed at an air show in Fort. St. John on Tuesday.

READ MORE: Family mourns loss of Capt. Jenn Casey

To report a typo, email: editor@pentictonwesternnews.com.

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Monique Tamminga

About the Author: Monique Tamminga

Monique brings 20 years of award-winning journalism experience to the role of editor at the Penticton Western News. Of those years, 17 were spent working as a senior reporter and acting editor with the Langley Advance Times.
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