The vaunted aerial demonstration team has been performing air demonstrations since 1947.
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The F-16, assigned to the 57th Wing at Nellis Air Force Base, Nevada, crashed around 1 p.m. and Turner was recovered by local first responders, said Master Sgt. Chrissy Best, a Thunderbirds spokeswoman.
Early reports are that the pilot ejected and is OK, KRDO reported.
According to CNN, President Obama attended the commencement ceremony and gave a speech to the graduates of the Air Force Academy.
White House spokesman Josh Earnest said a military helicopter that had been supporting Obama’s motorcade on the drive back to Peterson AFB peeled off to find the crash site.
Barack Obama expressed relief that the pilot was not injured and thanked him for his service to the country, according to reporters who were traveling with the president.
The United States Air Force Thunderbirds have cancelled their upcoming performance at Kirtland Air Force Base’s air show this weekend.
Caption + The Air Force Academy Class of 2016 Graduation at Falcon Stadium on Thursday, June 2, 2016.
“The pilot seemed in fine form, saluted POTUS as he approached and then shook his outstretched hand”.
An official cause of the crash is under investigation, but the air force academy says it appears to be engine failure.
“We can not give in to isolationism, that’s a false comfort”, he said in Colorado Springs to a polite but not overly effusive crowd. Lt. Andy Caputi, 30, ejected from his plane and landed safely on the grounds of the Niagara Falls Air Force Base. The crash happened about 15 miles south of the academy.
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A Navy Blue Angels plane also crashed Thursday in Tennessee, and its pilot was killed in that accident.
