A Thunderbird jet crashed in Colorado after they flew over for the Air Force Academy graduation.
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After leaving the Air Force Academy graduation ceremony, President Barack Obama visited the pilot at Peterson Air Force base.
A Thunderbird crashed outside Colorado Springs just after the performance attended by President Obama on Thursday. “The President also thanked the first responders who acted quickly to tend to the pilot”, White House press secretary Josh Earnest said. Thankfully, eh was not hurt.
Hours later in a separate incident, one of the Navy’s Blue Angels went down in a fiery crash while practicing for an air show in Tennesee.
The status of the Navy pilot and the cause of the crash were not immediately known.
Officials at the base, which is coordinating the show, “do not anticipate this will have any impact on Toledo”, the sergeant said.
“What I heard was a big boom”, Payne said. The pilot safely ejected and was not injured. He said it appeared the nose was ripped from the rest of the F-16. The jet skidded a few hundred yards across a grassy field, leaving a smudgy, gray mark before coming to rest on its belly.
“I started booking straight for the aircraft”, Rodriguez said.
The accident occurred about six miles (nine kilometers) from Peterson Air Force Base. The Thunderbirds have an annual operating budget of $35 million, said Air Force Staff Sgt. Katie Maricle, a spokeswoman for the Air Combat Command. The vaunted aerial demonstration team has been performing air demonstrations since 1947.
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We will keep you updated on Air Show details as they come into our newsroom.
