A Canadian Force Canadair CT-114 Tutor, operating for the Snowbirds demo team as #5, crashed shortly before their performance at the Atlanta Motor Speedway.
Captain Domon-Grenier ejected safely. Aircraft crashed in an unpopulated area. No injuries reported.
A Canadian Forces CT-114 Tutor jet trainer belonging to the 431 Demonstration Squadron, The Snowbirds, crashed before an airshow performance this afternoon at approximately 1:30 PM local, 13 miles southwest of the Atlanta Motor Speedway outside Atlanta, Georgia. The pilot ejected safely.
The small, twin-engine jet trainer was piloted by Canadian Forces Captain Kevin Domon-Grenier originally of St-Raymond de Portneuf, Quebec, Canada. Capt. Domon-Grenier flies the Snowbird 5, “second line-astern” position in the aerobatic jet team.
The remaining festivities associated with the annual air show were canceled following the crash. The Snowbirds also issued a statement on Twitter following the incident.
A tweet from The Royal Canadian Air Force Snowbirds said Capt. Kevin Domon-Grenier was “forced to eject” from the aircraft before the performance.
A statement from Lieutenant-Colonel Mike French, Commanding Officer of 431 (Air Demonstration) Squadron on the @CFSnowbirds CT-114 Tutor Ejection pic.twitter.com/JDodgPMdu4
— Royal Canadian Air Force (@RCAF_ARC) October 14, 2019
“At this time the precise circumstances leading up to the ejection are not known,” French said in the statement.
He added that it is “too early” to speculate on whether the Snowbirds will be participating in their last scheduled airshow for the year — this is scheduled on Oct. 19 and 20 in Houston, Texas.
“The priority right now is to provide support to the members of our squadron and their families and to investigate fully the cause of the accident.”
A Sunday night statement by the RCAF’s Lt.-Col. Mike French said Domon-Grenier was taken to hospital “as a precaution” but has since been released.
Crash on 13th October 2019: Canadair CT-114 Tutor "Snowbird 5"🇨🇦 during the Atlanta Air show🇺🇸. The pilot is OK🙏👍✌❤, the plane crashed into an uninhabited area. pic.twitter.com/NM6Ip5iAkA
— Tomáš Semrád (@Tomas40916602) October 14, 2019
“We’re very grateful that Captain Domon-Grenier made it safely to the ground,” he said in the statement.
“He remained calm throughout the entire incident which is a testament to his skill and professionalism.”
Snowbird 5, Capt Kevin Domon-Grenier was forced to eject from his aircraft shiortly before our performance in Atlanta this afternoon. Capt Domon-Grenier made it safely to the ground and is okay. The aircraft fell in an unpopulated area and no one was injured. pic.twitter.com/Sz1e8EVyE5
— CF Snowbirds (@CFSnowbirds) October 13, 2019
The RCAF says the plane went down in an unpopulated area and no one was injured. Local law enforcement has secured the crash site.
🇺🇸 A Canadian snowbird plane has reportedly crashed near the Atlanta air show. Announcers say the pilot has ejected.
— air plus news (english) (@airplusnews_EN) October 13, 2019
According to the official biography on the Canadian Forces Snowbirds website, Capt. Domon-Grenier, “He joined the Canadian Armed Forces as an Infantry officer in 2007. Upon completion of his combat arms training in Gagetown, New Brunswick, he was posted to the 3rd Battalion of the Royal 22nd Regiment in Valcartier, Quebec at which time, he was assigned command of the 1st platoon of A company.
In 2009, he was deployed to Afghanistan and took command of 71D, a team of Afghan National Army mentoring team. On his return to Canada, Captain Domon-Grenier transferred to the Royal Canadian Air Force as a pilot and received his wings in 2013. He was posted to 2 Canadian Forces Flying Training School in Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan. There, he instructed on the CT-156 Harvard II as an A Category Instructor.
Captain Domon-Grenier was posted to 431 (Air Demonstration) Squadron, the Canadian Forces Snowbirds in 2017. He brings over 1600 hours of military flying experience. Captain Domon-Grenier flies the 5 jet in the Second Line Astern position.”
There have been two other flying accidents (unrelated to today’s accident) for the Canadian Forces Snowbirds since May, 2007, those previous two accidents resulted in a total of three fatalities.
