Surviving Snowbirds pilot formerly with 17 Wing

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 19/05/2020 (1942 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Wendy Trudel made sure to take pictures of her pilot friend Capt. Richard MacDougall last Tuesday when he was in town with the Canadian Forces Snowbirds at 17 Wing as a part of their “Operation Inspiration” countrywide tour.

But Trudel never expected the next time she’d see pictures of MacDougall would be on the 11 o’clock news on Sunday night informing her of a plane crash he was in. Just before noon on Sunday, a Snowbirds Tutor jet crashed in Kamloops, B.C. MacDougall, 34, was the pilot. He ejected from the plane, landed on a roof and is expected to make a full recovery. Capt. Jennifer Casey, a Halifax native and the team’s public affairs officer, was also on board and was killed in the crash.

“I took pictures of Richard, Jenn and a couple of the other guys, not knowing that could’ve been one of the last pictures (of her). It’s sad,” said Trudel, a civilian at 17 Wing who has known MacDougall for nearly a decade.

Trudel said when she spoke to MacDougall last week at the hangar, he was “beaming and so excited” to be a part of the operation. She still can’t wrap her head around the fact something like this could happen less than a week later.

“I was just totally shocked. I had tears in my eyes,” Trudel said.

“I didn’t think it was him. I thought it was somebody else, even though you wouldn’t want that to happen to anybody… To have that happen, it’s heartbreaking that it even did happen and that Jenn lost her life.”

MacDougall hails from New Brunswick but was stationed at 17 Wing in Winnipeg before joining the Snowbirds. Winnipegger Garth Merkeley, who became friends with MacDougall eight years ago when they lived in the same condo building, took to Facebook to share details of his friendship with MacDougall, how proud he was to fly with the Snowbirds and what the past 24 hours had been like for their group of friends.

Winnipeg Free Press | Newsletter

Paul Samyn | Editor's Note

Wednesdays

A weekly dispatch from the head of the Free Press newsroom.

Sign up for Paul Samyn | Editor's Note

Sign Up

I agree to the Terms and Conditions, Cookie and Privacy Policies, and CASL agreement.

“Last summer he joined the Snowbirds team. For someone who was born to fly and perform like him, I’m not sure there could be any higher honour,” said Merkeley’s Facebook post. “It brought him so much pride and joy to serve his country in this particular way. This tour that they were in the middle of, Operation Inspiration, was such a Richard thing. Using his talents and abilities to try to brighten the lives of as many people as possible was just right up his alley.”

Merkeley and his friends waited over an hour after hearing about the crash until they were notified by MacDougall’s mother, Paulette Richard who lives in Dieppe, N.B., that he had survived. Merkeley declined an interview request, but told the Free Press that MacDougall loved his time in Winnipeg. The Snowbirds are based out of Moose Jaw, Sask.

“Early this morning we were finally able to hear from him briefly. The doctors expect him to make a full recovery. But obviously his recovery won’t just be physical,” Merkeley’s post read.

taylor.allen@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @TaylorAllen31

Taylor Allen
Reporter

Taylor Allen is a sports reporter for the Winnipeg Free Press. Taylor was the Vince Leah intern in the Free Press newsroom twice while earning his joint communications degree/diploma at the University of Winnipeg and Red River College Polytechnic. He signed on full-time in 2019 and mainly covers the Blue Bombers, curling, and basketball. Read more about Taylor.

Every piece of reporting Taylor produces is reviewed by an editing team before it is posted online or published in print — part of the Free Press‘s tradition, since 1872, of producing reliable independent journalism. Read more about Free Press’s history and mandate, and learn how our newsroom operates.