Fighter Jets At Airport

It was a sight Rob McGee’s two children won’t soon forget.

A pair of CF-18 fighter jets took off from the Kelowna International Airport Saturday evening, just as the family was driving past the runway.

“We were driving by and saw the two planes on the tarmac around 6 p.m. We got out of the car and went to the fence in order to get a better look. Just as we got there, the two pilots got into their planes and started taxiing down the runway. We jumped back in the car and raced down to the other end of the runway to get a good view of them taking off.”

He says his son Nicholas, 8 and his daughter Emma, 5, were very excited by the sight.

“Nickolas was a little shaken at first because they were so loud, but he enjoyed it,” he says.

McGee works near the airport and often watches planes take off from his office, but he says he has never seen any fighter jets at the airport before.

Airport duty manager, Joe Yakimchuck, says the planes made a quick stop for fuel.

"We do get military craft stopping here to refuel fairly often. Unless they are planning to stay for an extended period of time, they don't need to make arrangements with us."

It's not known where the Hornets were flying too when they decided to stop in Kelowna.