Blue Angels Pilot killed in Air Show

matmin77

Washington - A US Navy pilot was killed Saturday when his F/A-18 Hornet fighter jet crashed into a city neighbourhood during an air show at the Marine Corps Air Station at Beaufort, South Carolina.

The pilot was part of the Blue Angels, a Navy flight demonstration squadron that tours the country, performing at air shows and public events as a recruitment tool for naval aviation.

Under clear skies over Beaufort on an Atlantic Ocean inlet, the jet crashed without warning, according to witnesses quoted by the Beaufort Gazette newspaper on its website. The newspaper cited the Beaufort County Coroner's Office as saying that the pilot was killed.

There were reports of small fires near the crash site and damage to several homes caused by debris from the aircraft as it disintegrated on impact. There were no immediate reports of injuries on the ground.

A perimeter of about 1,500 metres was secured around the site, and no people were allowed to enter or exit.

Mark Generales, a local resident watching the air show from his boat on the Beaufort River, told the Gazette that he saw no ejection from the ill-fated jet.

'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,' he said.

'The plane just disappeared, and a couple of seconds later I saw the smoke.'

The crash occurred in the closing moments of a 30-minute show by the Blue Angels, who were at the start of their annual summer tour. A crowd approaching 100,000 people were estimated to have been at Saturday's air show.

Military authorities at the Beaufort Air Station said they would officially identify the pilot on Sunday.

A family friend identified the ill-fated pilot to the Berkshire Eagle newspaper in Massachusetts as Lieutenant Commander Kevin Davis, a Massachusetts native. He was in his second year as a member of the Blue Angels.

Beaufort is 110 kilometres south-west of Charleston, South Carolina, and 70 kilometres north-east of Savannah, Georgia.

razhar

that's the price the pilots have to pay...death in the fiery wreckage...

razhar

too slow to react..to slow to pull the ejection seat lever..one of the reasons thaT CAused him his life....

powerwoot

A perimeter of about 1,500 metres was secured around the site, and no people were allowed to enter or exit.

If any of their names carry Muhammad, Yussoff or any Islamic related names, this people will be prioritized to be detained

IceMallet

Dun think guys with Islamic names will be allowed anywhere near to the show site..and its Blue Angels, not Angles..

alphawolf

Oit..i think it's next to impossible to screen thousands of spectators la...

razhar

ff: check tajuk tu...tak ada kaitan dgn islam le..

alphawolf

Memang le...tapi bila dah ada orang timbulkan.....

Apa menouvre pilot tu buat sebelum accident??

razhar

breakaway dari group..tapi too low to pull up...tak cukup clearance..so g rempuh rumah trailer..then.KABOOOOOM....