Snowbirds to honour Captain Casey Sunday with live-streamed memorial

Captain Jenn Casey will be getting quite the send-off this Sunday, as Canada says good-bye to the late Snowbirds public affairs officer.

Lieutenant-Colonel Mike French, Casey’s commanding officer, joined David Kirton on Saskatchewan Afternoon Thursday to explain how they will be honouring the 35-year-old, who was killed Sunday when the Snowbird jet she was in crashed in a Kamloops neighbourhood.

“The process is going to involve dignity and respect for the family’s wishes. We will bring our teammate from her location in Kamloops, and then we’ll get her to her family back in Halifax,” French explained.

“It’s going to be touching and it’s going to be live-streamed (over) the internet for anybody that wants to tune in and watch it.”

French says they’ll have a ramp ceremony in Halifax, where Casey’s body will be unloaded in front of troops after landing. There will also be a procession through the Nova Scotian capital.

The route will feature places where Casey spent time growing up.

The ceremony will begin at 2 p.m. Saskatchewan time, 5 p.m. Halifax-local time.

French said the Snowbirds will accompany Casey on her journey home.

“We’ve got the entire team that was part of Operation Inspiration, the operation that she was framing so well across the country for us,” he said.

French also spoke about Casey’s role with the Snowbirds, and how she helped frame Operation Inspiration.

“During our fuel stops, she could be seen off in the corner with wifi, responding to probably up to 3,000 tweets and answering, and re-posting pictures,” he said.

“She was absolutely just crushing that operation. She did extremely well at lifting the spirits of Canadians.”

Her constant enthusiasm bled through to the entire Snowbirds’ team, according to French. He said her passion was shown through her work, which pushed everyone to be better.

“It was amazing to watch her work, we just knew we had to be on our game to be as good as her.”