# Blue Angel down



## evangilder (Apr 21, 2007)

Been getting some chatter that a Blue Angel is down. No reports as of yet, but it may have gone down in a residential neighborhood.


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## evangilder (Apr 21, 2007)

One plane down from the MCAS Beaufort station show in South Carolina. at 4:00 PM local time.


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## evangilder (Apr 21, 2007)

A Blue Angel crashed Saturday afternoon while performing at an air show at the Marine Corps Air Station Beaufort.

Authorities say the pilot, still not identified, was killed in the crash.

It was not immediately known whether anyone else was hurt in the crash.

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.

Police reports indicate that the Blue Angel clipped power lines near Shanklin Road in Burton about 4 p.m. and went down about 30 minutes into the unit's show at Marine Corps Air Station Beaufort.


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## pbfoot (Apr 21, 2007)




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## evangilder (Apr 21, 2007)

Looks like it was #6. No release of name yet.


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## mkloby (Apr 21, 2007)

That's terrible. We just had them aboard NAS Corpus for our airshow last weekend...


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## evangilder (Apr 21, 2007)

Yeah, I hate to see that kind of thing happen. I know of a couple of photographers that are there today. They may be able to tell us more about what happened. Damn!


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## evangilder (Apr 21, 2007)

Latest news, pilot's name released:

The Beaufort Gazette: Blue Angel crashes; pilot killed; eyewitness reports home caught fire


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## Matt308 (Apr 21, 2007)

God bless him and his family. May they be looked after and cared for.


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## DerAdlerIstGelandet (Apr 22, 2007)

Damn I hate it when **** like this happens.


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## Lucky13 (Apr 22, 2007)




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## Micdrow (Apr 22, 2007)

I cant remeber his name but Ive met a blue angle pilot last year at the EAA. He flew the Number 7 jet. Some of the most professional people I have ever had the pleasure to meet and talk to. My heart goes out to his family.


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## evangilder (Apr 22, 2007)

#y is the announcer normally. Last year, #7, was this year's #6 solo. LCMDR Kevin Davis is the pilot that was killed yesterday. Damn shame.


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## v2 (Apr 22, 2007)

A jet fighter flown by the U.S. Navy Blue Angels demonstration team crashed on Saturday in South Carolina, eyewitnesses said.

Curt Copeland, the coroner in the county where the crash occurred, told Reuters the pilot of the aircraft had died.

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.

(Reuters)


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## timshatz (Apr 22, 2007)

Saw film of it. Looked like he was pulling it tight and went in. Might've had a high speed stall. Or picked up a bird. Nothing really obvious though.

RIP, sad.


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## v2 (Apr 22, 2007)

A few photos:
CNN.com


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## evangilder (Apr 23, 2007)

By the way, that famous video of the reported passing out in the back of the Blue Angels jet...Lt Cmdr Davis was the pilot. Here, Steve Beatty reflects on Kevin Davis:

Reporter took memorable flight with calm, supportive pilot | ajc.com


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## 102first_hussars (Apr 23, 2007)

That sucks, every now and then one of our Snowbirds go down, and the pilots rarely bail out


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## FLYBOYJ (Apr 24, 2007)

This sucks guys... News we hate to hear


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## Gnomey (Apr 24, 2007)

Yep, shame to hear. Any word on what caused it yet?


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## evangilder (Apr 24, 2007)

It will be a few weeks before the accident review is done. Everything is speculation right now. Some say that he suddenly dropped from formation, some say the jet hit a tree. The accident review board will gather all the facts and we'll probably have a clearer picture.

Lt Cmdr Davis was a class guy and everyone that I know that met him really thought he was a super guy.


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## twoeagles (Apr 30, 2007)

My old room mate, a retired Navy Captain and former F-18 squadron CO, sent me this from his point of view:

"The video helps to, in my opinion, confirm the opinion of the writer. 
First a link to the video of the event. Then an explanation below:

LiveLeak.com - Blue Angels Crash

More detail available today. Having seen video of the crash, my initial speculation is that there was a G induced loss of consciousness (GLOC). The most aggressive flying in the Blue Angel show takes place in the join ups behind show center. The timing requires "expeditious" join ups involving huge overtake speeds and high G maneuvering in the terminal phase of the rejoin to dissipate the overtake. The video I saw shows No. 6 closing on the formation for the rejoin, but before he gets there, the jet lags the formation, goes outside the turn radius and descends in seeming controlled flight to the tree line. This would be consistent with GLOC on the rendezvous. If the pilot passed out at the join up, he'd be back on the power. Upon loss of consciousness, the G would ease
immediately taking him outside the formation turn radius. At flight idle, the jet would slowly descend. To regain consciousness, the pilot needs blood to flow to the brain which takes a varying amount of time depending how deep the GLOC. The senses return in reverse sequence to their loss. Hearing, then vision, cognition, then motor control. The frustrating part is when you can see and understand the problem but don't have the motor control to manipulate the flight controls appropriately.

I have done this to myself in the Hornet, thankfully not so close to the ground.

Of course, without the determinations of the safety investigation, the foregoing is mere speculation. However, a catastrophic, double engine failure is unheard of in the Hornet, and it would likely provide evidence in smoke, flames and parts emanating from the tailpipes prior to the crash. The media all seem focused on the impact with trees and power lines, but that is inevitable when falling to the earth.

This pilot was no rookie. A former Tomcat driver and TOPGUN grad, he was an experienced fighter pilot. GLOC is something that can effect even the, most seasoned pilots and it varies day to day and can turn on something as innocuous as time since the pilot's last meal."


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## Soundbreaker Welch? (Apr 30, 2007)

Those Blue Angel boys end up becoming angels themselves too soon.


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## CharlesBronson (May 3, 2007)

My condolences, is always devastating to lose good pilots. 



> Those Blue Angel boys end up becoming angels themselves too soon.



Beatiful phrase I agree 100 %.


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## mkloby (May 3, 2007)

twoeagles said:


> My old room mate, a retired Navy Captain and former F-18 squadron CO, sent me this from his point of view:
> 
> "The video helps to, in my opinion, confirm the opinion of the writer.
> First a link to the video of the event. Then an explanation below:
> ...



GLOC is what I thought right away after buddies at MCAS Beaufort described the mishap.


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## Soundbreaker Welch? (May 4, 2007)

They don't wear G-suits because it's doesn't to allow their hands enough manuverability on the throttle for their close flying in formation or othe extreme manuvers they do. 

The Thunderbirds do use G-suits so I guess it's just differant levels of safety. G-suits aren't perfect, so maybe that's another reason why the Angels do it the hard way.


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