Blue Angels Aircraft Crash

Vulcan

Vulcan

Vulcan

Soldato
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15 Jan 2004
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For the aviation enthusiasts:

One of the Blue Angels (similar to the Red Arrows) aircraft has crashed in a South Carolina air show killing the pilot.

A jet flying in formation with the U.S. Navy Blue Angels precision flying team crashed into a Beaufort, South Carolina, neighborhood, causing an "enormous fireball" during an air show, authorities said.

The Navy aviator was killed Beaufort County Coroner Curt Copeland said. The F/A-18's pilot is the only known fatality.

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.

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.

Pieces of a tree and the plane crashed into the home of a neighbor, Yelinek said, but she was uninjured. Pieces also hit other houses and smashed car windshields, he said.

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http://www.cnn.com/2007/US/04/21/blueangels.crash/index.html
 
Very sad but certainly not a bad way to go. I'm sure he'll be a hero to his children, grandchildren, great grandchildren...
 
Watched one of the videos linked from the CNN site and the correspondent said that the Blue Angels don't wear G-suits when flying as 'they get in the way' - if true, surely that's asking for trouble and it's a miracle they don't crash more often. Anybody know if the Red Arrows wear G-suits when they fly?
 
Adnams Drinker said:
Watched one of the videos linked from the CNN site and the correspondent said that the Blue Angels don't wear G-suits when flying as 'they get in the way' - if true, surely that's asking for trouble and it's a miracle they don't crash more often. Anybody know if the Red Arrows wear G-suits when they fly?
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The Red Arrows do wear G Suits, I didn't know the Blue Angels didn't wear any though. But then again these aren't just ordinary pilots they pick, so I'm guessing a good resistance to the G force is a requirement.
 
Speculation is a bird being ingested into an engine, or the formation leader screwing up.

On another forum i frequent one of the members works with the USAF display team and knows a thing or two. He says this

We may joke about our rivalry a lot, but our thoughts go out to the Blues on this very difficult day for them.

It hits home a lot more for us because we had our #2 jet take a birdstrike during our Delta sequence today...scary, really.

From what we've heard, he may have taken birds, but there's also a good chance thier Boss was manuvering thier delta too low to the ground and the guy on the bottom was in a turn, clipped some power lines, and went in. On the bottom of the delta, he would have been looking away from the ground at the #3 jet in the formation, and wouldn't have had a clue what was going on.

We'll find out more during thier investigation, but it sounds from the preliminary of what is going around our squadron that they were too low and birds were NOT a factor. If that is the case, thier Boss is toast.
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Was watching a documentary on the Blue Angels a few weeks ago on Discovery.

They don't wear g-suits but are extensively tested in a centrifuge as part of their training.
I wouldn't have thought a blackout would be the cause.

They also fly a very very tight formation, and basically just stare out of the cockpit at a fixed point on the plane next to them to keep on track.

The boss at the front of the formation is effectively their eyes ahead, and if he's made a mistake such as going too low, then he's in a whole load of trouble. :eek:

Accidents are always likely to happen eventually when you fly so close and fast, but its what these people live for.

RIP. :(
 
That report doesn't state anything else about the incident though. Do tehy really have sensors on the pilot's body to check which muscles they tense? Possibly some sensors for brain and blood activity though. Is a shame, but if it's human error to blame it was either this pilot or his leader.
 
They don't know what happened, so they speculate that the person unable to defend himself is at fault knowing that he's never going to be able to dispute it.
 
Longbow said:
The Red Arrows do wear G Suits, I didn't know the Blue Angels didn't wear any though. But then again these aren't just ordinary pilots they pick, so I'm guessing a good resistance to the G force is a requirement.
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And the red arrows are just ordinary?
 
theo said:
Do tehy really have sensors on the pilot's body to check which muscles they tense?
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No, they'd probably 'get in the way' as much as a G suit. However, they do know how they're trained to deal with G forces and they can ask the other pilots in the formation what they did. Bearing in mind they practice/perform these routines hundreds of times its not like they don't have a clue how the pilot in question was likely (or supposed) to react.

I have a lot of respect for both the Blue Angels and the Red Arrows (saw them both at RIAT last year), but why is everyone (or at least those who have expressed a preference) here assuming that it couldn't possibly be pilot error. :/
 
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