Captain Kuss is survived by his wife, Christina, and two young children, as well as his parents, Michael and Janet Kuss of Durango.
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Kuss joined the elite Blue Angels squadron in September 2014 after logging more than 1,400 flight hours and serving in Afghanistan, according to The Tennessean.
The crash occurred the same day as another military performance plane, a U.S. Air Force Thunderbird, crashed near Peterson Air Force Base in Colorado after a flyover during a graduation ceremony. The pilot was able to safely eject from the jet.
It said: “I know that the Navy and Marine Corps Team is with me”.
“The Thunderbirds are a huge part of U.S. Air Force history and they are such a vital element of connecting our nation to our Air Force”, Maricle said. The official was not authorized to discuss the matter publicly and spoke on condition of anonymity.
The Navy said in a news release that Kuss was beginning to take off during an afternoon practice session for a weekend air show when he crashed.
A U.S Navy official confirms the F/A-18 Blue Angels pilot died in today’s crash.
Friday’s previously scheduled lecture by the Blue Angels on the MTSU campus has also been cancelled. Our thoughts and prayers are with the Blue Angels and their families tonight. The pilot is not being identified until next of kin are notified.
News of the crash is devastating for the entire community, said Mikal “Butch” Kissick, who owns Wings Pensacola, a Navy flight memorabilia store near the main gate to Naval Air Station Pensacola.
“While all of the details are not yet known, it is apparent that the pilot sacrificed himself and prevented additional loss of life by steering his aircraft away from a populated area”, Rubio noted. The Blue Angels are grounded pending an investigation. Reports say that the pilot, Maj Alex Turner, radioed that we was maneuvering his jet to avoid hitting homes in a nearby neighbourhood.
The crash happened as the Navy’s elite air performance team was preparing for the Great Tennessee Air Show this weekend in Smyrna. Jennifer Elliott, who had been watching the jets practice before going inside her house, said everything shook.
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Germaine said it looked like the pilot was flying very low to the ground when it crashed. Durand said she saw the nose of the jet come straight down.
