Look up to the skies today afternoon when you hear the roar of a CF-18 hornet flying over Northwest B.C.– from Prince Rupert to Smithers – any time after 12:30 p.m.
The CF-18 demonstration jet will be conducting flypasts over Northern British Columbia as part of this year’s Operation INSPIRATION flights which is a tribute to frontline healthcare workers.
Captain Dan Deluce will begin the planned route at approximately 12:30 p.m. starting over Prince Rupert and ending at Smithers. Weather permitting, Deluce will fly to Kitimat before heading to Smithers.
Terrace residents can expect to see Deluce pass by at 12:45 p.m.
The CF-18 hornet aircraft will fly over and do a wing rock (rolling motion) above all the major hospitals along the route – Prince Rupert General Hospital, Mills Memorial Hospital in Terrace, Kitimat General Hospital and Bulkley Valley District Hospital in Smithers.
This is the first time the CF-18 demonstration team is flying a northwest route.
Deluce spoke to Terrace Standard this morning before embarking on his flight route from Whitehorse and said that he is excited to fly over northern B.C. as part of the tribute.
“I love the north, I love B.C., it’s a beautiful place to fly and it’s a beautiful way for me to pay tribute to the frontline workers. I have two sisters in health care and it has been a long year and a half,” said the captain.
“With COVID, it has been a little more isolated than normal so that’s kind of part of why I want to come up and pay tribute not only to the hospitals and frontline workers but also to give people a little bit of a show,” he added.
Residents in the northwest can see the grey coloured CF-18 hornet 1000 feet or above from anywhere they are, said Deluce and added that he will be a doing a couple laps in the cities. Deluce also said that Terrace residents might get to see the CF-18 pass over the city twice today, if he can get in and out of Kitimat weather permitting.