Navy Blue Angels jet crashes

[yellowwing]

U.S. Navy "Blue Angels" jet crashes
Reuters (http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/04/21/AR2007042100824.html?hpid=moreheadlines)
Saturday, April 21, 2007; 5:31 PM

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A jet fighter flown by the U.S. Navy Blue Angels demonstration team crashed on Saturday in South Carolina eyewitnesses said.

There was no word on the fate of the pilot.

The show in Beaufort, South Carolina was attended by thousands of spectators.

"They were doing maneuvers and generally when the planes loop around they cross the runway and then turn around and basically when they turned around we saw a cloud of black smoke," said Brett Hindshaw, a South African who was visiting Beaufort for the air show.

"We started counting and we saw five aircraft. Four of them landed but the lead pilot circled over the accident sight and then one or two military helicopters took off and went in that direction," he told Reuters by telephone.

"Then all the ambulances and military fire trucks stationed along the runway took off."

Witnesses said one of the six Blue Angels jets disappeared as the planes flew low in close formation behind a grove of trees.

One witness, Fred Yelinek, told CNN the jet went down in a high-density residential area and debris hit at least one house and cars, but there was no sign of injuries to people on the ground. He said there was a "huge fireball" at the crash site.

"It's behind the tree line behind the naval air station, away from the ocean," said Hindshaw. "We can hear sirens in the distance, fire trucks and stuff beyond the trees."

The Blue Angels, based in Pensacola, Florida, fly Boeing F/A-18 Hornets.

[ssgtt32]

BEAUFORT, S.C. — A Navy F-18 Blue Angel plane crashed during an air show today, according to televised reports. The county coroner's office said one person was killed.

Witnesses said the planes were flying in formation during the show at a Marine air base, and then one dropped down below the trees and apparently crashed.

"The next thing I seen was just a big black cloud of smoke," Gerald Popp, who lives nearby, told CNN.

At the Blue Angels command headquarters at Pensacola Naval Air Station, the petty officer on duty said he "had no comment at this time."

A woman who answered the phone at the county coroner's office said one person died in the crash. It was not immediately clear who it was.

More than 100,000 were expected to attend the air show, and the Blue Angels were the main attraction. The elite aerial-demonstration team, which is based at Pensacola Naval Air Station, recently celebrated its 60th anniversary.

Beaufort is about 35 miles northwest of Hilton Head.

[10thzodiac]

I watch them every year in Chicago, sorry to hear what happened. I'm not surprised if he didn't eject, more than likely acted heroically and stayed with the plane to minimize civilian casualties. America's finest !

In Chicago the air show is held a reasonably safe distance off shore on lake Michigan where most accidents can be minimized both for the pilot and spectators over water.

I'd never take my grandchildren to any other, only over water.

[Phantom Blooper]

Pilot Killed in S.C. Blue Angel Crash
By BRUCE SMITH (Associated Press Writer)
From Associated Press
April 21, 2007 6:47 PM EDT
BEAUFORT, S.C. - A Navy Blue Angel jet crashed during an air show Saturday, plunging into a neighborhood of small homes and trailers and killing the pilot, the county coroner said.
Witnesses said the planes were flying in formation during the show at the Marine Corps Air Station and one dropped below the trees and crashed, sending up clouds of smoke. At least one home was on fire.
Raymond Voegeli, a plumber, was backing out of a driveway when the plane ripped through a grove of pine trees, dousing his truck in flames and debris. He said wreckage hit "plenty of houses and mobile homes."
<SCRIPT>document.write('<iframe style="float:right;margin-left:5px" src="http://ad.doubleclick.net/adi/news.earthlink.dart/news_np300x250;sz=300x250;ptile=5;ord='+rand+'?" width="300" height="250" frameborder="no" border="0" marginwidth="0" marginheight="0" scrolling="no">http://ad.doubleclick.net/ad/news.earthlink.dart/news_np300x250;abr=!ie;sz=300x250;ptile=5;ord='+ra nd+'? (http://ad.doubleclick.net/jump/news.earthlink.dart/news_np300x250;abr=!ie;sz=300x250;ptile=5;ord='+ra nd+'?)</iframe>');</SCRIPT>"It was just a big fireball coming at me," said Voegeli, 37. "It was just taking pine trees and just clipping them."
County Coroner Curt Copeland said the pilot was killed, but did not release an identification. Copeland said there was a lot of debris at the crash site and described the scene as horrific.
John Sauls, who lives near the crash site, said the planes were banking back and forth before one disappeared, and a plume of smoke shot up.
"It's one of those surreal moments when you go, 'No, I didn't just see what I saw,'" Sauls said.
At the Blue Angels command headquarters at Pensacola Naval Air Station the petty officer on duty said he "had no comment at this time."
The phone rang unanswered at the Marine base.
More than 100,000 were expected to attend the air show and the Blue Angels were the main attraction. The elite aerial-demonstration team, which is based at Pensacola Naval Air Station, recently celebrated its 60th anniversary.
Beaufort is about 35 miles northwest of Hilton Head Island.

[jinelson]

This is indeed a sad moment that comes to close to a movie that I have watched many times "The Great Santini". That Marine was flying above Beaufort and developed a fire and lose of control and he chose to stay with his bird to avoid it crashing in the populated area below and gave his life to do that. My heart goes out to the pilots family and all others caught up in this tragedy.

Jim

[Sgt Leprechaun]

Damn.

[thedrifter]

Pilot killed, eight hurt when Blue Angels jet crashes at air show
By STEVE STONE, The Virginian-Pilot
© April 22, 2007
Last updated: 1:39 AM

A Blue Angels pilot was killed Saturday when his F/A-18 Hornet crashed into a Beaufort, S.C., neighborhood near the end of a performance by the Navy's precision flight team.

Eight people on the ground were reported hurt.

The crash happened about 4 p.m., 3 miles west of the Marine Corps Air Station in Beaufort.

Beaufort County Coroner Curt Copeland said the pilot was killed but did not release his name. He identified the aircraft as plane No. 6.

According to the Blue Angels' Web site, that plane was generally piloted by Lt. Cmdr. Kevin "Kojak" Davis of Pittsfield, Mass., who was previously stationed at Oceana Naval Air Station in Virginia Beach.

The Navy would not immediately confirm the pilot's identity. The Navy said the jet was preparing for the final maneuver of the show when it crashed.

"Our squadron and the entire U.S. Navy are grieving the loss of a great American, a great naval officer and a great friend," Lt. Cmdr. Anthony Walley, a Blue Angels pilot, told reporters in South Carolina.

In a statement, the Navy said the pilot had been with the Blue Angels for two years and this was his first as a demonstration pilot.

The jet's crash showered a neighborhood in debris, damaging several homes and vehicles and starting fires. The jet was torn apart as it sliced through 100-foot pine trees.

Raymond Voegeli, a plumber, told The Associated Press that he was backing out of a driveway when the plane ripped through a grove of pine trees, dousing his truck in flames and debris.

The wreckage hit "plenty of houses and mobile homes... it was just a big fireball coming at me," said Voegeli, 37. "It was just taking pine trees and just clipping them."

More than 100,000 people were estimated to have been on hand for the air show.

One spectator, Scott Houston, told CNN he was watching the show from a boat about a mile from the airfield. He said the Blue Angels appeared to have largely finished their show and were simply flying in close formation.

The cause of Saturday's crash is under investigation.

Weather conditions in the area at the time of the crash were good, with clear skies and little wind.

Fred Yelinek told CNN he heard and saw the crash.

"The first impact was with the top of large pine trees" across the street from his home, Yelinek said, describing the pines as being about 100 feet tall. "I turned around at that noise, and that was when the enormous fireball and the earth-shaking rumble hit... I was looking right at that."

Almost immediately "there were people running around in chaos," he said.

He said pieces of trees and aircraft showered down around the area outside his home, "pieces of the airplane that you could carry in your hand and no larger."

He said there were holes in homes across the street from his house and that car windows were shattered. But when he looked about two blocks down the street at the intersection of Pine Grove Road and Shanklin Road, he saw the worst damage.

"There's a lot of houses on all four corners of that intersection, and there was a lot of fire," Yelinek said.

He said he instinctively grabbed his camera and began taking pictures. One was of a section of the fuselage painted in the distinctive blue and gold of the flight team and showing the letters "lue A," parts of the Blue Angels' name from the side of the aircraft.

Except for small fires started in woods and in some debris, there was no major blaze after the initial blast, he said.

"I expected that raging fireball to last and last," he said, "but it only lasted about three seconds."

In 1999, three years after joining the Navy, Davis was assigned to Fighter Squadron 101 at Oceana for training in the F-14 Tomcat and was the "Top Stick" in his class. He joined the Pensacola, Fla.-based Blue Angels in September 2005.

The Blue Angels has lost two dozen aviators since its formation in 1946. But most of those losses came in the earlier years of the program, with fewer incidents since the team started flying the Hornet in 1986.

The F/A-18 is described by the Navy as an all-weather fighter and attack aircraft.

"It's a nice bird, that's for sure," Davis said of the jet last year while visiting Oceana.

The single-seat Hornet is the nation's first strike-fighter. F/A-18s are operating in 37 tactical squadrons from air stations world wide, and from 10 aircraft carriers. They also are flown by the armed forces of Canada, Australia, Finland, Kuwait, Malaysia, Spain and Switzerland.

The Blue Angels are scheduled to perform Sept. 8 and 9 at Oceana, one of 66 shows on the team's schedule for 2007.

Reach Steve Stone at (757) 446-2309 or steve.stone@pilotonline.com.

Ellie

[thedrifter]

Blue Angel crashes; pilot killed
Witness: ‘It fell straight out of the air”
Published Sunday April 22 2007
Staff Reports
A Blue Angel pilot crashed Saturday afternoon while performing at an air show at Marine Corps Air Station Beaufort.

The pilot was killed in the crash, according to the Beaufort County Coroner’s Office.

Though initial reports said the plane hit a pine tree or power line, other witnesses said the jet was in total control before it plummeted below the treeline at about 4 p.m.

A portion of the F/A-18 Hornet traveled another block before crashing near a heavily populated area off Laurel Bay Road near Shanklin and Pine Grove roads. Parts of the plane hit several houses, according to witnesses.

Reports and witnesses said that it was Blue Angel No. 6 that crashed. The No. 6 plane is piloted by Lt. Cmdr. Kevin Davis of Pittsfield, Mass.

Authorities wouldn’t release the pilot’s identity, but a friend of the Davis family confirmed the Massachusetts native had died, according to the Berkshire (Mass.) Eagle.

“I said a quick prayer, hoping that it wasn’t Kevin,” Tom McGill told the Massachusetts paper. “When I got home, I got a call from a friend saying that it was. (This is) devastating.”

Marine officials said the pilot’s name officially would be released today.

The pilot of the jet was joining the “Delta formation” for the final maneuver of the aerial demonstration when the crash occurred, according to a release from the Navy. It was the pilot’s second year on the team and his first year as a demonstration pilot, the release states.

A mile perimeter was established at the intersection of Shanklin and Pine Grove after the wreck, and no one was allowed in or out.

It was not immediately known whether anyone else was hurt in the crash, though witnesses said they saw debris on the ground and at least one home on fire.

“I was working at a residence across the street from the initial impact,” said Fred Yelinek. “I was not looking that way at the time but was in the yard. The plane hit the top of a tree and clipped it off. The sound of that turned me around. The plane had already passed through that yard and into Shanklin Road. It exploded on impact with a giant fireball, and of course it shook the earth.”

Emergency crews at the scene of the crash site called for the coroner about 4:20 p.m., indicating that the pilot was killed in the crash.

The Blue Angel pilot crashed about 30 minutes into the unit’s show at Marine Corps Air Station Beaufort.

Jason Keith, of Yemassee, said he was driving west on Laurel Bay Road when he saw the plane crash behind the Food Lion grocery story, which is south of the road.

“Something caught my eye, and all of a sudden I saw a huge black explosion,” he said. “The plane went down, and we watched it for awhile and I didn’t see any parachute or anything. If he had been 400 yards to his right he would have plowed into the road. The other guys were just flying along.”

Keith said he saw a home catch fire.

Tim Stamps, 18, said he was walking down the road, coming back from Food Lion on Laurel Bay Road, when he saw the plane circling in the air and smoking.

He also saw the left side of a house covered in debris and the windows are busted out.

Former County Councilman Mark Generales was in his boat on the Beaufort River at the time of the accident.

Generales said the planes came around Lady’s Island and Beaufort, then swung out toward the air base.

“They looked to be doing an approach,” he said. “They had appeared from the distance to be just above the tree line, and everything appeared to be going fine. All of the sudden, one plane seemed to slow down, and it fell straight out of the air.”

Generales said he didn’t see any smoke and didn’t see an ejection.

It appeared the plane “just lost power,” he said.

“The plane just disappeared,” Generales said. “And a couple of seconds later, I saw the smoke.”

Robert Bowden also was in the Beaufort River at the time of the crash. “The angle went wrong on it, he dipped below the trees,” he said. “When he dipped out of my eye site, it was clear he went down and the rest of the formation wasn’t aware of it.”

Bowden said he didn’t see the jet hit anything.

Dave Perkins, lives on Pine Grove Road and saw some of the wreckage from the crash site.

He said parts of the plane were everywhere and said there was a hole in the trailer across the street about 10 feet long and 2 feet wide.

“There was a fire on the telephone pole on Shanklin and Pine Grove, and it was ablaze and parts all along Shanklin, across the street,” Perkins said. “The canopy of the plane was across the street from me on fire.”

He said the incident was “like nothing like I've ever felt before.”

Joe Farrell, who has a plane on display at Saturday’s air show, said the jet largely appeared in control.

“It looked like it was in absolute control all the way into the ground,” he said. “We watched the guys try to reform. He made the turn and slid right into the ground.”

Former Blue Angels pilot and Pensacola City Mayor John Fogg called the Saturday afternoon crash of a U.S. Navy Blue Angel a “tragedy”, according to the Pensacola (Fla.) News Journal.

“The whole nation is impacted by something like this,” said Fogg, who flew the number three slot and number four slot in 1973 and 1974 for the U.S. Navy’s precision flying team, according to the Journal.

Saturday’s show was at the beginning of the team’s flight season, which began last month, and more than 100,000 people were expected to attend. The elite team, which is based at Pensacola Naval Air Station, recently celebrated its 60th anniversary.

Ellie

[YLDNDN6]

A tragedy indeed. This pilot pushed the limits of machine and man, and spent his career showcasing the extreme and awesome power and abilities of our nation's military. He is in our thoughts and prayers along with every other soul who dons a uniform, a flight suit or full combat gear in this time when it is not always the popular thing to do. Heroes, one and all! God bless you.

[jetdawgg]

Another tragedy here. I use to watch those guys while I was stationed in P/cola Fla. Great job they did then. I am in SC today and it is all over the news here.

All the best to the family:usmc: