Around 4 p.m. Thursday, Marine Capt. Jeff Kuss was performing practice runs for an air show near Nashville, Tenn., when his F/A-18 jet went down.
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A US official says the pilot of a Blue Angels jet did not eject when the aircraft crashed in Tennessee and likely was killed. Five other F/A-18 jets landed safely moments after the crash. A member of the U.S. Air Force Thunderbirds crashed in a field near Colorado Springs, Colorado, following a flyover for the Air Force Academy graduation where President Barack Obama spoke.
Blue Angels pilot U.S. Marine Capt. Jeff Kuss visits with fans after an airshow performance in Key West, Fla.in April.
“We are deeply saddened over the loss of Captain Kuss and our thoughts and prayers go out to his wife and children, his family and the Blue Angels”, Christina Callahan, director of Syracuse Hancock International Airport, said in a statement Friday.
According to his official Blue Angels biography, Kuss, of Colorado, joined the elite acrobatics team in 2014 and accumulated more than 1,400 flight hours.
One pilot has been killed as a couple of United States warplanes have crashed during separate incidents in the country.
The aerobatic team is scheduled to perform September 10-11 at Oceana Naval Air Station in Virginia Beach.
Triumph turned to tragedy in middle Tennessee Thursday afternoon when Kuss’ plane went down.
The Air Force will perform a thorough investigation into the causes of the mishap, and those findings will be released when the investigation is complete. He was from Durango, Colo., and graduated Fort Lewis College in 2006.
Last year, Kuss was the narrator for the Blue Angels show in Corpus Christi.
The weekend airshow, which residents say is dear to them and a big deal for the community, has been canceled. “It made me realize what incredible shape and endurance Blue Angels pilots have to be in”.
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“We’re talking fractions of seconds”, Bohn said. He reported to Marine Fighter Attack Squadron 312 (VMFA-312), the “Checkerboards”, at Marine Corps Air Station Beaufort, South Carolina, in February 2011, where he served as Squadron Mess Officer, Naval Air Training and Operation Procedures Standardization Officer (NATOPS), Powerline Division Officer, and Pilot Training Officer. He promises whether the Blue Angels are a part of it or not, the show won’t disappoint. Two US navy aircraft from the naval aviation wing crashed in a single day.
