赴美飞行表演彩排坠地 空军“雪鸟”机毁人亡

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昨天下午，加拿大空军雪鸟飞行表演队一架飞机在美国蒙大拿进行表演演习时坠毁，飞行员当场身亡。当局还没有公布遇难飞行员的身份，但有消息称参加这次表演的都是老队员。目击者称，当地时间18日下午4点左右，失事飞机与其它5架飞机列队飞行，但不知什么原因突然坠地。事发当时，现场目击者能够明显感觉到地面的震动。

1 q( C' m  w: `# e上次发生类似事件是在2005年8月24日，一位名为麦凯的上校飞行员在加拿大安大略省雷湾以西的农业区失去对飞机的控制，但麦凯提前跳伞逃过一难。“雪鸟”（snowbird）喷气式飞机重约7170磅，最高时速可达750公里。

cindy

timhorton

Wedding plans have tragically been cancelled for a 31-year-old Snowbird pilot who died Friday in a crash at Malmstrom Air Force Base in Montana leaving his family in shock and looking for answers.
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  A5 J0 d4 h5 k6 n/ WCapt. Shawn McCaughey, of Candiac, Que., was in one of a group of planes that were practising manoeuvres during rehearsal for a weekend air show when his aircraft left the formation and pitched into the ground.
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" N$ j* K1 c/ d- T( R! gMcCaughey's father said Saturday the family was going through "a real tough time."

  |& L; ~) y/ I5 b( W( T! g9 R  w"In December, he got engaged on a boat with his fiancee and he was supposed to get married in three weeks time, on June 9," Ken McCaughey, 66, told The Canadian Press from his home in Candiac, Que, a south-shore suburb of Montreal.

"This is unbelievable what's going on now for us and his fiancee. Today is her birthday," Ken McCaughey said, his voice breaking with emotion.

0 t6 h" Y* p1 z& Q0 g+ A  UShawn McCaughey's fiancee, Claudia Gaudreault, of Chicoutimi, Que., a social worker at the Snowbirds base in Moose Jaw, Sask., turned 29 years old on Saturday.

/ \; J' }& X, @  G5 o©The Canadian Press, 2007