ZardozZ News and Satire: Blue Angels

Saturday, April 21, 2007

Blue Angels - In Memoriam

In Memoriam... Pilot Lt. Cmdr. Kevin Davis of Pitsfield Mass who perished during an air show today in South Carolina.

(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 six planes were flying in formation during the show at the Marine Corps Air Station and one dropped below the trees and apparently crashed, sending up clouds of smoke.

It is unclear what caused the accident. Beaufort is about 45 miles north of Hilton Head Island, South Carolina. More... -- AP

The Navy aviator was killed, Beaufort County Coroner Curt Copeland said. The F/A-18's pilot is the only known fatality. The aviator's name is being withheld pending notification of next of kin.

Officials announced that Sunday's scheduled air show will go on but that the Blue Angels will not take part.

Fred Yelinek told CNN he saw the crash occur about a mile from Marine Corps Air Station Beaufort, which was holding the two-day show. He said the jet came down about 100 yards from him with an "earth-shattering rumble."

Yelinek said the jet struck a stand of pine trees, and pieces of the plane hit homes, but he didn't see any catch fire. The pieces were "as big as a hand but no larger," he said. (Watch Yelinek describe how the plane struck trees (CNN - Of Course they add a commercial infront of the Video -- MSM can't resist an opportunity to make a buck!!! - ed. - )

The Associated Press described the crash site as a neighborhood of small houses and trailers.

The crash took place in the final minutes of the air show, said Lt. Cmdr. Anthony Walley, a Blue Angel pilot. He said the name of the pilot would not be released until relatives were notified of the death.

"Our squadron and the entire U.S. Navy are grieving the loss of a great American, a great Naval officer and a great friend," Walley said.

A Navy statement said the pilot had been on the team for two years — and it was his first as a demonstration pilot. The accident was under investigation, the statement said.

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.

The Blue Angels fly F/A-18 Hornets at high speeds in close formations, and their pilots are considered the Navy's elite. They don't wear the traditional G-suits that most jet pilots use to avoid blacking out during maneuvers. The suits inflate around the lower body to keep blood in the brain, but which could cause a pilot to bump the control stick — a potentially deadly move when flying inches from other planes.

Navy Blue Angel No. 6 is shown minutes before crashing during an air show at Marine Corps Air Station Beaufort in Beaufort, S.C., Saturday, April 21, 2007. (AP Photo/Birmingham News, Mark Almond)