Admiral John Richardson, the Navy’s top officer, posted on Facebook: “My thoughts and prayers go out to the family and friends of the Blue Angels after this tragic loss”.
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The Duluth Airshow is thankful the Thunderbirds pilot survived, and expresses honest condolences on the loss of Blue Angels pilot Capt. Jeff Kuss.
The Tennessean said Kuss had served in Afghanistan before joining the Blue Angels.
Elway wrote, “Honored to have met Blue Angels Captain Jeff Kuss, a Broncos fan and Colorado Native at the Super Bowl”.
At the time of his death Thursday in the crash of his F/A-18 fighter jet, his decorations included the Strike Flight Air Medal and the Navy and Marine Corps Achievement Medal, according to the website.
Kuss’ jet crashed Thursday afternoon while practicing for an air show outside of Nashville, Tennessee.
Kuss graduated from Durango High School and graduated from Fort Lewis College in 2006 with a degree in economics.
The practice run was supposed to be in preparation for the 2016 Great Tennessee Air Show scheduled to take place this weekend.
“I immediately knew they were from airshow”, said Shiva Karimy from the Smyrna Fat Mo’s restaurant she co-founded with her husband.
To qualify for the Blue Angels, one must be a career-oriented Navy or Marine Corps jet pilot with an aircraft carrier qualification and a minimum of 1,250 tactical jet flight hours.
Since 1946, the Blue Angels have performed for more than 484 million fans, according to the team’s website. Two Navy pilots assigned to the squadron were killed when their jet crashed in Georgia in 1999.
While video of the Blue Angels crash captured the immediate aftermath, authorities said they are still investigating what caused the crash itself. A Navy spokesman couldn’t immediately provide the Blue Angels budget.
He also said the participation of the Blue Angels in the airshow has been canceled.
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One of six F-16s participating in a Thunderbird fly-over of the commencement ceremony of the U.S. Air Force Academy at Colorado Springs, Colo., attended by President Barack Obama, crashed.
