Here's how Canadian Forces prepare for Remembrance Day flyovers
One of the many traditions of Remembrance Day ceremonies held on Vancouver Island are the flyovers performed by the Canadian Armed Forces. From the ground, they may appear to be a simple task, but for the crews in the air, reaching the various ceremonies at pre-set times requires some precise coordination.
“It’s just knowing the position we need to be and what time and moving backward from there and depending on airspeed, we can do the math to hit the time on target,” says Capt. Joseph Jacques, who on Nov. 11 was an Aircraft Commander in one of two Cormorant helicopters being flown out of 19 Wing Comox.
The two aircraft from the base’s 442 Transport and Rescue Squadron over-flew ceremonies in Comox, Cumberland, Courtenay, Campbell River and Nanaimo.
“The flybys are a great military tradition and just the sound of the aircraft in that community, it’s usually not the happiest day, Nov. 11, so that brings joy I think in the whole event,” Jacques says.
But as much as the symbolism is appreciated on the ground, the tradition is also considered an honour by those working on the flights, according to First Officer Capt. Steve Davies.
“(It’s) definitely not just another day of flying, for us,” Davies says. “Fly-pasts aren’t something we do day-by-day, so it’s slightly different than the normal SAR training that we do.”
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Canada's most wanted fugitive arrested in P.E.I. in connection with Toronto homicide
A suspect in a fatal shooting in Toronto’s east end last summer has been arrested in Charlottetown, just one week after he topped a list of Canada’s most wanted fugitives.
BREAKING Federal employees will be required to spend 3 days a week in the office
Starting in September, public servants in the core public administration will be required to work in the office a minimum of three days a week. The Treasury Board Secretariat says executives will need to be in the office four days per week.
Concerns about plexiglass prompt inspections at some Loblaws locations in Ottawa
Inspections are underway at more than one Loblaws location in Ottawa after complaints were filed about tall plexiglass barriers.
OPP officer said 'someone's going to get hurt' before wrong-way Hwy. 401 crash
As multiple Durham police cruisers were chasing a robbery suspect on the wrong side of Highway 401 Monday night, an Ontario Provincial Police officer shared his concerns, telling a dispatcher, "Someone's going to get hurt."
Poilievre unrepentant over calling Trudeau 'wacko' as his MPs say Speaker should resign
An unrepentant Pierre Poilievre returned to the House of Commons on Wednesday to pepper the prime minister about his drug decriminalization policies after being booted the day prior for refusing to take back calling Justin Trudeau 'wacko' over his approach to the issue.
Five human skeletons, missing hands and feet, found outside house of Nazi leader Hermann Göring
Archeologists have unearthed the skeletons of five people, missing their hands and feet, at a former Nazi military base in Poland.
Toddler of Phoenix first responder dies after bounce house goes airborne
A two-year-old child died after a strong gust of wind sent the bounce house he was in airborne and into a neighbouring lot in central Arizona, the Pinal County Sheriff's Office said.
Plane overshoots runway at airport in St. John's, N.L., no injuries reported
Investigators from the Transportation Safety Board of Canada are headed to St. John's, N.L., after a plane overshot a runway at the city's airport this afternoon.
A teen was found buried in a basement in New York. An engraved ring helped police learn her identity two decades later
For more than two decades, the unknown victim was nicknamed "Midtown Jane Doe" because she was found in the Hell's Kitchen neighbourhood of New York City. But this week, investigators finally revealed her identity.