Performers at the Wetaskiwin Air Show were scheduled to pay tribute to Calgary air show pilot Bruce Evans during the show which was set to go on Wednesday night.
Evans died when his T-28 Trojan crashed at the Cold Lake Air Show last Sunday. He was a well respected pilot on the circuit and known for his generosity and love of flying.
“It was very tragic to hear about Bruce,” Stefan Trischuk, a Saskatchewan-based pilot who had performed alongside Evans in numerous shows, told the CBC. “This is such a small community of airshow pilots.
“We all share the same passion. It is very specialized what we do and it is like a family so when you lose one of your fellow pilots from this small community of airshow pilots, it hits home very hard.”
Evans was also a volunteer pilot for Vintage Wings of Canada and well known in the Canadian warbird community.
Witness reports vary considerably on the circumstances of the crash but he may have been coming out of a loop when the aircraft crashed.
He’d owned the Trojan since 2007.