CNN BLUE ANGELS CRASH

[MADem]

Source: WSAV TV CH 3, Savannah, via CNN

Blue Angel Down at Airshow

Saturday, Apr 21, 2007 - 04:26 PM
NEWS 3 has confirmed a Blue Angel aircraft has gone down somewhere near Pine Grove Road in Beaufort. NEWS 3 has crews on the scene and we'll have the latest tonight at 6 and 11.


Read more: http://www.wsav.com/midatlantic/sav/news.apx.-content-articles-SAV-2007-04-21-0003.html

---

A Blue Angels plane has crashed. Several houses are on fire in Buford Beaufort, SC. Will provide link when available.

Edit for spelling and additional info:

Weather was not a factor, CNN is reporting.

[yardwork]

1. Oh no.

[xultar]

2. OMG, I LOVE the Blue Angels.

:cry:

I hope the pilot ejected and I hope no one was hurt on the ground.

[City Lights]

10. I'll second everything you said.

I'm watching now, but not getting much more information than what's already been reported.

[Solly Mack]

3. keep us posted, pretty please

:(

[MADem]

4. Six aircraft went behind trees, only five came back up...it was towards the end of the airshow they

were doing.

Large cloud of black smoke seen behind treeline.

[Ian David]

5. That's awful. I remember seeing The Blue Angels as a kid. n/t

[rasputin1952]

6. I just saw that too...

:(

So far, houses burning after crash. They were apparently done w/the show and were preparing to land when one went down...:cry:

Story is still building, not much else known at this point.

[cwydro]

7. Beaufort is the town.

Beautiful old south town.

[GoddessOfGuinness]

44. It is a beautiful town...

I hope nobody was in the houses when the plane crashed.

[GregD]

8. home(s) on fire

Sounds like the pilot may have crashed into a residential area.

[maddezmom]

9. link, but same as your info: Report: Blue Angels Plane Crashes Into Homes

Report: Blue Angels Plane Crashes Into Homes
CNN Reports Homes On Fire

POSTED: 3:34 pm CDT April 21, 2007
UPDATED: 3:42 pm CDT April 21, 2007

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There are reports that a Blue Angels precision flight team member has crashed a plane during a show in South Carolina.

CNN reported that at least one plane crashed into a Beaufort, S.C., neighborhood. Several homes were reported to be on fire, according to CNN.

A man who said he was a witness told CNN that was watching the show and there were six planes, then one vanished before he saw a black plume of smoke.

http://www.wsmv.com/news/12736945/detail.html?rss=nash&psp=news

[cwydro]

12. Lots of beautiful old homes in Beaufort.

That is the area referenced in Prince of Tides.

[maddezmom]

14. very sad all around

:(

[cwydro]

16. Not much info

coming out. CNN keeps playing the same RW witness talking.

[TomInTib]

11. Oh, no, I know a lot of those guys.

We have a party for them at our house every year during Fleet Week on S F Bay.

Damn

[Sterling]

59. Could you ask them not to buzz Manhattan next time they do fleet week here

Last year they buzzed the lower east side about a dozen times. No one was impressed, many people were frightened and it is obvious that these guys can have accidents. I would prefer they not do their stunts over large cities. It's pretty fucking stupid.

[MADem]

13. Fire is involving at least one house. It's near military housing, but it could be in

a nearby civilian housing area as well.

[WePurrsevere]

15. Oh no... I hope no one was killed or hurt. :-(

Growing up in the Schenectady, NY area the Blue Angels or the Thunderbirds were a part of the annual Air Show at the Schenectady Airport (LOTS of military land there because of the super long runway they have.) Every Summer a week before the show if you lived in the area you knew they were there since they'd fly over the houses and practice (it made a great draw). :)

I was always fascinated by them and admired their skill and courage... even decades later when I see them they take my breath away.

[GregD]

17. CNN now reporting fire has involved several homes

[GregD]

19. ok, now a conflicting report, plus news of the pilot

Highway patrol now reporting that the crash it NOT in a residential area and did not involve homes.

Also, not verified, but it seems the pilot may be alive.

[MADem]

18. No word on the pilot yet. It is just one plane down--the others have landed

Thousands of people in attendance at the airshow. (CNN is reporting that the 2004 show drew 120,000 spectators). All of the emergency units from the entire area have gone to the scene.

They do not still know about the pilot, if he was able to eject.

They say it "may have gone into a neighborhood." At least "one house" may be involved. They do not know if people are in the house.

A state trooper just reported via a third party: "I was told that the pilot was alive, but I can't confirm that right now." The state troopers are assisting by trying to reroute crash site, "which is said NOT to be around any house."

Conflicting info, there...

[maddezmom]

20. CNNI just had a breaking news update

they said info was still coming in and would update as soon as they could confirm info

[northzax]

21. their 'breaking news update'

was 'we have new stuff to tell you later?"

brilliant.

If this was a residential neighborhood, then sadly the pilot is probably down with the plane (among other things, they would know if he ejected from telemetry) military pilots are trained to do their best to avoid hitting civilian areas, even if it means going down with the plane.

[MADem]

22. Well, there is still hope yet. The state trooper said pilot is alive, no house burning.

It could be some woods near houses are burning...

We'll have to wait until they get a reporter on the ground there.

There's no confirmation of any of that, though. Lotta speculation, little info at this stage.

[maddezmom]

23. considering the conflicting reports, I think CNNI is being responsible

[Up2Late]

24. A witness on CNN is saying that the jet came down in at least two pieces...

...about 300 yards apart. He said he heard some pieces hit the pine tree about 100 yards from his position and then the main body of the jet coming down about 300 yard further away.

He also said he's about to upload some photos to CNN.

Other than that, everyone is just showing "file footage."

edit: They also reported that it was a single aircraft incident.

[MADem]

25. Now they report the aircraft hit PINE trees, and the debris scattered over residential area.

The plane broke up into small pieces. Some pieces went through the house of one guy's neighbor, who was unhurt. Pieces of airplane and trees went through CAR windshields, but no one was hurt.

They are talking to a guy named Fred who followed the debris field and took pictures. He wasn't able to go the whole way, so there's activity that happened further up the debris field that he does not know about.

Eight to ten minutes after impact the area was surrounded. The Blue Angels circled the crash site until a helo arrived.

The location of the crash was Pine Grove and Shanklin. Hospitals are not reporting receiving any casualties. They are showing a GOOGLE earth map, and there are a LOAD of pine trees with clumps of neighborhood interdispersed.

Still unknown if the pilot ejected.

[bbinacan]

26. Paper reporting pilot didn't make it

http://www.beaufortgazette.com/breaking_news/story/6477255p-5768377c.html

So sad

[Up2Late]

28. Yep, MSNBC is reprinting that same news at their website too...

<http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/18248797/>

"...According to the Beaufort Gazette, police reports indicated that the jet clipped power lines and went down about 30 minutes into the unit's show at Marine Corps Air Station Beaufort.

A coroner was called to the scene and authorities were told the pilot had been killed in the crash, according to the paper. However, a local hospital had not been made aware of any injuries or fatalities, according to NBC News.

A Navy official told NBC News there was an incident at the show, but did not say if anyone was injured...."

[MADem]

31. The banner at CNN.com is a bit vague, but one can infer that

There has been at least one fatality in the crash of a U.S. Navy Blue Angels F/A-18 jet at an air show in South Carolina, the Beaufort County coroner says.

[Beausoir]

27. Damn! There will be alot of video of this crash.

[Up2Late]

29. Maybe not, it sounds like it didn't happen over the air field and that it happened...

...behind a clump of trees.

I live about as far away from the an Air-Reserve base, and when the Blue Angels fly a show, you can hear them, but it's really hard to get a good look at them, because they are going so fast.

[Beausoir]

30. Lots of cameras roll during the show.

[Up2Late]

34. Yes I know that, but what I'm saying is that I know from experience that unless they are...

...over the Air Field it's very difficult to get a good shot, and when they do these regroup/meet-ups, they are usually a long way from where most of the cameras are.

If anything, we'll get video of the jet flying off in the distance and then probably a column of black smoke rising over the distant trees.

I'd love to know why none of the local T.V. crews have uploaded video of the House fire yet. Is this sort of thing now prohibited by the USA PATRIOT Act now too?:shrug:

AND all the Cable "news" channels have gone back to their usual crap speculation of "other news" already, very unusual for them.

[Beausoir]

41. Yeah...I get your point. And your Patriot Act comments are interesting. I remember being able to

watch my local Air National Guard going through their daily exercise.

Back when they flew F-4's. I could park damn near on the runway, eat my lunch and feel the wake turbulence of the rhinos as they shot touch and go's.

They got to know my car and would actually LOOK at me on take-off. I shit you not.


Man...those days are loooooong gone.

[StarryNite]

32. Very sad

:cry:

[Mrs. Overall]

33. Photo of the crash:

[Up2Late]

35. Emergency crews ask for coroner

Emergency crews ask for coroner

Published Saturday, April 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.

http://www.islandpacket.com/breaking_news/story/6477256p-5768378c.html

[Stinky The Clown]

36. CNN just confirmed that the pilot is the only casualty.

6.43 PM EDT

[rsmith6621]

37. Blue Angel Pilot Confirmed Dead

Source: cnn



Just breaking at CNN.Com

Read more: http://www.cnn.com/

[Hotler]

38. In memory to all.

The poem, High Flight, has over the years become a mantra to pilots.
It is reproduced here as a tribute to, and in memory of pilots of all generations.



--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
High Flight
Oh! I have slipped the surly bonds of earth
And danced the skies on laughter-silvered wings;
Sunward I've climbed, and joined the tumbling mirth
Of sun-split clouds - and done a hundred things
You have not dreamed of - wheeled and soared and swung
High in the sunlit silence. Hov'ring there
I've chased the shouting wind along, and flung
My eager craft through footless halls of air.
Up, up the long delirious, burning blue,
I've topped the windswept heights with easy grace
Where never lark, or even eagle flew -
And, while with silent lifting mind I've trod
The high untresspassed sanctity of space,
Put out my hand and touched the face of God.

Pilot Officer Gillespie Magee
No 412 squadron, RCAF
Killed 11 December 1941


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

< Into Service | 1939: War | 1940: Survival | 1941: Into France | 1942: The Fight Continues | 1943: The Tide Turns[br />| 1944: Return to France | 1945: Victory | Post-War Years | Preserved Examples | High Flight]

DeltaWeb Home Page



--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Copyright © 1996, DeltaWeb International Ltd

[reprobate]

58. As a member of the Keesler AFB male chorus in 1961, our director

put "High Flight" to music. We performed it several times in public, once on one of the New Orleans TV stations.


I don't know what happened to it after that.


"High Flight" has been one of my favorite poems since chilhood. For those who have tasted the blue, it goes right down to the emotional level.


Thank you, John Gillespie Magee.

[DemoTex]

39. Dammit! B/A #6 augured in. Bad news for this big fan.

RIP, Naval Aviator superb. Formation aerobatics require skill beyond belief, nerves of steel, communication out the ying-yang, and pure-t-luck. Looks like the B/As' luck ran out today.

BTW: A good friend of mine was a Blue Angel and then a Blue Angel instructor in the early 1960s. That boy could fly like nothing I've ever seen before.

[Beausoir]

43. These guys are incredible athletes and scholars. The best of the best of the best. So damn tragic

Young, beautiful, highly skilled people.

Rest in peace.

[Up2Late]

48. Do you know if the B/A jets have flight recorders on board?

And if so, would they be able to tell if the jet had a engine flame out due to a bird ingestion?

The reason I ask is this new CBS article <http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2007/04/21/national/main2713985.shtml?source=mostpop_story> that quotes a witness account of a pre-crash explosion and this from an earlier CNN article:

<http://edition.cnn.com/2007/US/04/21/blueangels.crash>

"...While the cause of the crash is unknown, Justin Cooke, an off-duty air traffic controller at the base, told CNN that birds pose a frequent problem to jets flying in the area, and can cause a crash.

"On an F-18, you have two motors, and if they take (a bird) in the engine, it could cause engine failure and shut that down," he said...."

Also, let me know if you can see the Blue line and blue marker on this at this Google Maps link. I tried to mark the approximate location of the crash, going by the CNN report:

http://maps.google.com/maps/ms?f=q&q=Pine+Grove+Road,+Beaufort,+S.+Carolina&layer=&num=10&ie=UTF8&hl=en&z=15&ll=32.459226,-80.752687&spn=0.023863,0.040169&t=h&om=1&msid=113079982360069943979.00000112167c0b23f4b57&msa=0

Here's the CNN report I'm going by: http://edition.cnn.com/2007/US/04/21/blueangels.crash

The guy they interviewed said the parts of the jet he photographed were on Shanklin Road, starting about a mile from the base.

Seriously, I want to know if this new Google Maps feature worked.

[MADem]

51. The blue line is visible. NT

[diane in sf]

40. I feel sorry for the pilot who died,

and glad he avoided hitting anyone else.

Frankly when they fly around here it freaks me out--I feel like I'm being strafed.

And the thought of one of them plowing into a bunch of flammable wood frame houses like we have here is all too vivid.

[emmadoggy]

42. OMG, I just logged on and saw this news on Yahoo and came here right away

to see if it was here. This is just heartbreaking news. I saw the Blue Angels once back in the early 90's. Saw the Thunderbirds once to. They are so amazing to see. As a matter of fact, they were supposed to be coming to an air show in our local area this summer and I had mentioned to my husband that it would fun to take the kids (5 years old) to see.

My heart goes out to the family and friends of the downed pilot and also to the other pilots. A sad, sad day. :patriot: :cry:

[susanna]

45. My husband and I were just talking about the BA

last night...they were coming to town this summer and he wanted to go see them.

I said I wasn't sure I did - that it scared me, them flying in those tight formations. I know the aviators' skill levels are top notch, but I always get a clenched gut when I watch it on TV. :scared:

I saw this today and felt so bad. Prayers to the pilot's family and the rest of the BA team (squadron?). :-(

[appleannie1]

46. On fire before crash

Buzz Henry, who was in the front yard raking when the jets passed overhead, told CBS News he saw one of the planes burst into flames while still in the sky, spitting a strip of fire across the sky as it headed down into the trees.

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2007/04/21/national/main2713985.shtml?source=mostpop_story

[barb162]

47. Sad.

My condolences to his family and the other Blue Angels

[entanglement]

49. It seems the deceased pilot is Blue Angel '#6', LCDR Kevin J Davis

RIP :(

[truthisfreedom]

50. Blue.

Our colors. God be with him.

[tom_paine]

52. This is a terrible tragedy.

n/t

[Centered]

53. Sad... very sad

Rest In Peace, thank you for your service and thank you for sharing your skill to entertain us.

[mainegreen]

54. Damned lucky no one on the ground died.

I love air shows, but it just seems a little daft to perform dangerous and complex aerial maneuvers over peoples houses.
Still, it's terrible the pilot died.

[MADem]

56. It's astounding, especially with debris puncturing windshields and homes

And small fires popping up here and there...but NOT on the houses. The aircraft broke in two, and half of it just barrelled down the street, breaking up a bit at a time, in essence, before coming to rest.

[bemildred]

55. Witnesses recount Blue Angel jet crash

---

"It was just a big fireball coming at me," said Voegeli, a 37-year-old plumber. "It was just taking pine trees and just clipping them."

Witnesses said metal and plastic wreckage — some of it on fire — hit homes in the neighborhood, located about 35 miles northwest of Hilton Head Island. William Winn, the county emergency management director, said several homes were damaged. Eight people on the ground suffered injuries that were not life threatening, said Capt. Sarah Kansteiner of Marine Corps Air Station Beaufort.

---

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.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070422/ap_on_re_us/blue_angel_crash

[Zech Marquis]

57. i grew up watching the Blue Angels and Thunderbirds

Being an air force kid at Andrews AFB meant we had a yearly airshow in early May, with either the Blue angels or Thunderbirds showing up...it's a real tragedy for this accident, these are the evry best pilots in the world. And from the various specials about how hard itis to join the team, Im sure something seriously wrong must have caused that crash. The grounds crew take care of the planes like no one else can, my heart goes out to them..

[Az_lefty]

60. Sad news. These guys are the best of the best...

:cry:

[cascadiance]

61. A story about three Blue Angels I met before a fatal crash in 73 and a cursed autograph book!

Today's crash reminded me of some old memories I had from when I was a kid...

I have an old tale from when I was a kid living overseas in Turkey and was traveling through Italy at the time and was in Naples when they were doing an airshow overhead. It was pretty wild hearing them thunder overhead while wine glasses rattled on the table as violinists were giving us shows near our tables there.

Anyway, later during that day after the show was over, we ate dinner at a waterfront restaurant and while eating noticed that a nearby table had three guys sitting there each with the same light blue shirts on. I speculated that they might be the Blue Angels to my Mom and went over and asked, and sure enough they were. We talked for quite a bit then, being one of the few Americans at the restaurant at the time. It was quite fun, and they signed my autograph book then.

Just earlier the only other autographs I'd had in that book were from the Kuntz brothers, who a year ago earlier stopped in Turkey in their efforts to be the first persons to walk around the world. Note this article here (look for the section titled "The Living On Earth Almanac")


http://www.loe.org/shows/shows.htm?programID=97-P13-00040

Found out a few months later from those signatures, that they'd been ambushed in Afghanistan by some bandits and one of them had been killed, and the other brother had to finish his efforts on his own.

Anyway, a few months after I got these pilots autographs at this restaurant, one or two of these Blue Angels pilots were killed in another fatal air crash involving Blue Angels (I think in '73).

Anyway, after that I put away that autograph book away and didn't have anyone else sign it, in case it was really cursed.

As an aside, does anyone else think I should try going through my old things and try to find it to get someone like Bush to sign it? Or do you think Homeland Security might not like that either! :)

But in all seriousness, my feelings go out to the family of that pilot. A shame when this happens! I'm glad noone else was severely hurt or killed!

Also, I don't know if getting that book signed might have other bad side effect too. I live only a mile or so away from Miramar Air Force base (aka Top Gun facility) where they fly manoeuvers from here all of the time and periodically we get Blue Angels shows here too. Wouldn't want any crashes around here!

[colorado_ufo]

62. A recommendation.

Take the book, and burn it, outside the house (safer than throwing something like that into a fireplace). For good measure before you burn it, it would be nice to say a blessing for all those who have signatures inside, alive or passed. Does it have a curse? Who can tell? But why keep anything that has such unsettling, sad associations.

Then go out and buy a NEW autograph book and make a fresh, happy start.

[mikelgb]

63. 2nd row 2nd picture

http://www.blueangels.navy.mil/officers.htm

bio:
http://www.blueangels.navy.mil/off_06.htm

[IndyBob]

64. Sheer speculation at this point,

but it appears the pilot may have stayed with his bird, and brought it down in a spot least likely to lead to the deaths of bystanders. If so, this shows an incredible degree of honor and dedication.

May his family and friends find peace.