Canada: Capt. Thomas McQueen's dead body brought to Ottawa
Hundreds across Ontario came out on Wednesday to pay tribute to Capt. Thomas McQueen, who died at the age of 29 after the CF-18 he was flying crashed Nov. 28 during a training exercise near the Alberta-Saskatchewan border.
In just three weeks he was to marry his fiancee, Caitlin Skelhorn, at the McQueen family's cottage.
During the ceremony, four CF-18 fighter jets from 3 Wing Bagotville, Que., flew past in McQueen's honour.
Tributes were paid by McQueen's parents, Tom and Edith, Skelhorn and McQueen's siblings Natalie and Aaron.
"We are a family of deep faith in Jesus Christ and that is what is sustaining us," Edith said.
After the ceremony, McQueen's flag-draped casket was carried in a procession along an extended Highway of Heroes to Ottawa for a private burial at the Beechwood National Cemetery of Canada.
Canadian flags are at half-mast Wednesday throughout the city for the military funeral.
Many firefighters came out to pay their respects.
McQueen’s grandfather had been a pilot in the Second World War and McQueen had been proud to carry on the legacy of his grandfather, his family members said.
His mother, Edith told the service that her son’s main aim in life was to become a pilot.
“Whether the accident was pilot error or something out of his control we are resting in the truth of scripture, this was no accident in God’s eyes, Thomas completed Body of downed Capt. Thomas McQueen brought to Ottawa, Ontario.”, she said, reported by Canadian Press.
An investigation in in progress to determine what went wrong.
“Operating a supersonic fighter aircraft in dynamic manoeuvring is not something that we take lightly,” Col. Paul Doyle, commanding officer of 4 Wing Cold Lake said last week. “We make sure we train ourselves and prepare ourselves to the highest standards of professionalism,” media reported
McQueen’s father, Tom, told Wednesday’s service that “the pain is crushing and numbing … and yet we are so proud of the man who has sacrificed in service to his country doing the important job he so loved.”, media reported.
(Reporting by Asha Bajaj)
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