# Thunderbird/ Blue Angel Crashes



## AWP (Jun 2, 2016)

The President was also in attendance as a speaker. The pilot ejected but there's no word on the Airman's condition. Hopefully he's a new member in the Caterpillar Club.

Air Force jet crashes after flyover at Colorado Obama speech | Fox News



> An Air Force Thunderbird jet crashed south of Colorado Springs just after a flyover for a graduation of Air Force Academy cadets where President Barack Obama had spoken.


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## Devildoc (Jun 2, 2016)

Glad the pilot is OK.  Hope everyone else is, too.


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## DA SWO (Jun 2, 2016)

Blue Angels lost one today too

http://www.tennessean.com/story/news/2016/06/02/navy-blue-angel-jet-crashes-smyrna/85308972/


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## Centermass (Jun 2, 2016)

Fire chief: 1 dead after Navy Blue Angel jet crash in Smyrna around 3 pm today. 
At least one person was killed. The victim’s identity has not been released at this time.

Further details weren’t immediately known.

Hunter Hayes was set to fly with the Blue Angels on Friday. His publicist told News 2 the crash happened right in front of them. He was not injured.

Their performance was to be at the Great Tennessee Airshow. It’s unclear if the crash will affect the show.

WATCH LIVE: 1 killed after U.S. Navy Blue Angels jet crashes in Smyrna, Tenn.

Prayers to the pilot, his family and friends.


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## DA SWO (Jun 2, 2016)

Thunderbirds fighter jet crashes in Colorado Springs after flyover at Air Force Academy graduation

Looks like a backup (no number on the tail).
Pilot is ok.


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## AWP (Jun 2, 2016)

Renamed the thread. What a sad and odd day for the flight demonstration community. 1 pilot and 2 a/c in one day? Tragic.

Blue skies.


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## Red Flag 1 (Jun 2, 2016)

CRAP! Three all so close. Maybe it's time for the Thunderbirds to stand down, and take a close look at what they are doing.

Rest In God's Own Peace, Capt Jeff Kuss. Thoughts and prayers out.


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## Gunz (Jun 2, 2016)

Rest in Peace, Marine. 

Glad the Air Force pilot was able to walk away from his crash.


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## AWP (Jun 2, 2016)

From last year, but kind of ominous:

http://foxtrotalpha.jalopnik.com/blue-angel-f-a-18-hornets-shed-parts-in-flight-twice-in-1709836712


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## Devildoc (Jun 2, 2016)

RIP, Shipmate.

Per his grandfather:  "It's hard to put into words right now, but it's beautiful that a person can live and die engaged in their life's pursuits."


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## Red Flag 1 (Jun 2, 2016)

Freefalling said:


> From last year, but kind of ominous:
> 
> http://foxtrotalpha.jalopnik.com/blue-angel-f-a-18-hornets-shed-parts-in-flight-twice-in-1709836712



Not unlike the troubles with the F-15s.


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## TLDR20 (Jun 2, 2016)

Military aviation is a dangerous business. Flying air shows is a dangerous business.

RIP to the pilot. He went down with the ship, and I am sure was engaged in his survival till the end.


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## metalmom (Jun 2, 2016)

God speed. Thinking of his loved ones and peers.
As a 10 yr old I saw a female wing walker fall to her death. Traumatic.Air shows can be dangerous.Formation flying-very plausible danger.

I have a huge respect for The Blue Angels and our Snowbirds.

What a tragic event. RIP.


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## Blizzard (Jun 2, 2016)

Godspeed.


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## Dame (Jun 2, 2016)

DA SWO said:


> Thunderbirds fighter jet crashes in Colorado Springs after flyover at Air Force Academy graduation
> 
> Looks like a backup (no number on the tail).
> Pilot is ok.


He must have waited until the very last second in order to get it down. According to this, the gear was down.
Pilot Ejects Into Field Before Thunderbird Crash 

Rest in peace to the Blue Angel.


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## Optimus Hund (Jun 2, 2016)

Fair winds and following seas.


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## Blizzard (Jun 3, 2016)

From what I hear, TBird 6 ran out of gas.  Oops.  Guessing his days on the team are numbered.


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## TLDR20 (Jun 3, 2016)

Blizzard said:


> From what I hear, TBird 6 ran out of gas.  Oops.  Guessing his days on the team are numbered.



No it is Obama's fault.


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## AWP (Jun 3, 2016)

TLDR20 said:


> No it is Obama's fault.



Good to see you finally coming around.



----

News reports have him on final to Colorado Springs. That low could be a bird strike or some type of equipment failure. At that altitude you don't have a lot of time to problem solve a sudden engine out scenario. Witnesses say he consciously avoided homes too, so I imagine he was pretty task saturated and "in the corner" for altitude and speed.


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## Devildoc (Jun 3, 2016)

TLDR20 said:


> No it is Obama's fault.



That's so...last administration.  I'm going with "It's Hillary's fault."


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## Salt USMC (Jun 3, 2016)

TLDR20 said:


> No it is Obama's fault.


Relevant: President Obama meets Thunderbirds pilot after crash in Colorado Springs


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## Blizzard (Jun 3, 2016)

Deathy McDeath said:


> Relevant: President Obama meets Thunderbirds pilot after crash in Colorado Springs


To apologize?


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## Red Flag 1 (Jun 3, 2016)

I'm not sure if this a photo op or not, but it is a rare event.


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## AWP (Jun 9, 2016)

This is a really crappy month for demonstration teams.

Russia grounds entire fleet of Su-27 fighter jets after deadly crash | Fox News



> Russia grounded its entire fleet of Sukhoi-27 fighter jets Thursday after an apparent technical glitch caused one of the aircraft to crash near Moscow, killing the pilot.


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## Raptor (Jun 9, 2016)

Patrouille Suisse jet crashes after collision at Leeuwarden airbase. Fourth incident in one week

Here's another one


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## Red Flag 1 (Jun 9, 2016)

Freefalling said:


> This is a really crappy month for demonstration teams.
> 
> Russia grounds entire fleet of Su-27 fighter jets after deadly crash | Fox News



Concur. I was thinking that a stand down for the F-16's might be in order. I'm sure it has been happening at the operational Wing level. Prolly not a bright idea to open post stand downs during a wartime footing.


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## AWP (Jun 9, 2016)

Red Flag 1 said:


> Concur. I was thinking that a stand down for the F-16's might be in order. I'm sure it has been happening at the operational Wing level. Prolly not a bright idea to open post stand downs during a wartime footing.



The DoD releases that info and even if it didn't, aviation blogs would have the info within 48 hours.


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## DA SWO (Jun 9, 2016)

Red Flag 1 said:


> Concur. I was thinking that a stand down for the F-16's might be in order. I'm sure it has been happening at the operational Wing level. Prolly not a bright idea to open post stand downs during a wartime footing.


16's have known engine problems, (one reason why the F-22/35 programs were/are important).

I'll go on a limb here and say the T-bird crash is fuel or engine related and the SCANG crash was guys being aggressive.
The Blue Angel report may be interesting, we lose what? 12-24 Fighters every year? AF Safety Center use to put a forecast out every FY predicting the number and types of frames they thought we'd lose, staggering numbers.


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## Devildoc (Jun 10, 2016)

DA SWO said:


> AF Safety Center use to put a forecast out every FY predicting the number and types of frames they thought we'd lose, staggering numbers.



I am not certain of the Navy's SOP, but they do the same thing.


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## AWP (Jun 13, 2016)

And the Swiss decided to participate. 4 teams, 5 aircraft, 2 dead, 2 ejected, 1 landed safely...all in one week.

Blue skies.

Patrouille Suisse jet crashes after collision at Leeuwarden airbase. Fourth incident in one week

One of the Tiger jets managed to land in spite of the damages whereas the other aircraft crashed: fortunately, the pilot was able to eject from the plane suffering only few cuts and bruises.


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## Red Flag 1 (Jun 13, 2016)

DA SWO said:


> 16's have known engine problems, (one reason why the F-22/35 programs were/are important).
> 
> I'll go on a limb here and say the T-bird crash is fuel or engine related and the SCANG crash was guys being aggressive.
> The Blue Angel report may be interesting, we lose what? 12-24 Fighters every year? AF Safety Center use to put a forecast out every FY predicting the number and types of frames they thought we'd lose, staggering numbers.



When the first Falcons deployed to USAFE, the birds preceeded any replacement parts. Conequently, more than a few were turned into parts aircraft.  It took nearly a month for enough parts showed up for all aircraft to be mission ready. One thing the we all were happy about, is that you could carry on phone conversations when the Falcons launched. They cut the nois level to almost a whisper, after hearing the F-4  thunderous launches.


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