Updated 5/16/17:
The Snowbirds have confirmed that these cancellations are due to a safety stand down for additional training time. In addition to the three shows in the original post below, another three have now been announced as canceled by the team.
The May 27-28th Airshow YQG in Windsor, Ontario has been called off following the cancellation there. It was to be the first one in Windsor in several years and the first under a new group.
The May 31st show in Whiteman, Missouri (Note: This is NOT the Wings Over Whiteman show in June, which is unaffected) is also canceled, as is the June 3-4 show in Duluth, Minnesota. That show still has the Blue Angels and will no doubt continue.
Although the news is disappointing, it is obviously the right call. Safety must come first. We hope the team has a successful training period and we look forward to seeing their amazing performances soon!
The Snowbirds released this statement on their Facebook page:
We have decided to undertake additional practice and training from our home base at 15 Wing Moose Jaw before returning to our 2017 scheduled air performance season.
While we have had several well-executed shows and practices early in the season, our Team Lead has determined that additional training is required.
“A reduced training period hampered by poor weather which continued into the show season, resulted in numerous cancelled practices. As a result, more training is required before the Snowbirds resume the 2017 schedule.”, said Major Patrick Gobeil, Snowbirds Team Lead.
We have cancelled our participation in some upcoming air shows, and intend to return to the air show circuit once we have the consistency required for our dynamic nine-aircraft aerobatic performance.
The Snowbirds thank the air show organizers for their understanding and all our fans for their continued encouraging messages.
Original Post:
The Canadian Forces Snowbirds canceled three upcoming airshow appearances today.
The team was set to perform at in Rochester, New York on Wednesday evening, the 17th. They were the only flying performer, and the entire event has now been canceled. It is common for the Snowbirds to perform such mini-airshows during the middle of the week as they transit between larger weekend shows.
Also canceled is the team’s appearance at the 2017 Rhode Island Airshow in North Kingstown, RI. That event is scheduled for this coming weekend (the 20th and 21st) and as of now the rest of the show is still on as planned. The Snowbirds were the headlining act.
Just before publishing this post, we found out that the team has also canceled a May 24th appearance at Fort Erie.
We have heard reports that this is part of an internal safety stand down by the team, but we have not been able to confirm that. They performed in Memphis, TN this past weekend and did have an unusual incident where one jet broke from formation. All nine jets landed safely shortly thereafter. We have reached out to the Snowbirds for comment and will update this post if we hear back.
As always, we hope you will share your information and comments on our forums!
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