The Canadian military is investigating after a “possible bird impact” landed a CF-18 demonstration plane during an air show on Wednesday.
The pilot was not injured in the incident at the Wild Wednesday Air Show in Ypsilanti, Michigan, outside Detroit.
Major Trevor Reid, a spokesman for Canada’s 1st Air Division, said the acrobatic performance was “interrupted due to a possible bird impact”, but said investigators were still examining the plane for determine what happened.
“The pilot experienced something, which according to his safety checklist made him return, in accordance with his standard operating procedures, to the airfield,” Reid said, confirming that the problem arose with at least one of the aircraft’s engines.
“I’m not going to speculate on what exactly the pilot experienced. All of that is part of the inspection part of the investigation at the moment,” he added.
“We have a very professional team of technicians who know the CF-18 very well and we are very confident that they will be able to determine the fault.”
The demonstration team is scheduled to perform at the Canadian Forces Borden Base in Ontario on June 18-19.
The spokesman said it is “too early to tell” whether these actions will be canceled or rescheduled due to the problem with the plane.
“There is a second jet that has the CF-18 demonstration equipment in case of technical problems with the main aircraft,” he added.
A statement on the team’s Twitter account expressed regret for having to reduce Michigan’s performance, but noted that “safety is our number one priority.”
The incident happened just over two years after a bird attack was blamed for the fatal crash of a Snowbird plane near Kamloops, BC.
Captain Jenn Casey, a public affairs officer, died on May 17, 2020 after a small bird was sucked into the engine of her CT-114 Tutor plane shortly after takeoff.
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His team members are divided between 3 Wing Bagotville in Quebec and 4 Wing Cold Lake in Alberta.