Jeannie Groeneveld a spokeswoman for commander, Naval Air Forces told USNI News.
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The pilot has not been publicly identified.
None of the five other Blue Angels jets was involved in the incident. Witnesses took to social media to share pictures of a fireball and a thick black plume of smoke from the crash.
“My thoughts are with the pilot, their family and friends and all (of the Thunderbirds personnel)”, Air Force Secretary Deborah Lee James wrote in a tweet. The plane went down about 2 miles from the Smyrna airport.
She’s seen them many times before.
“What I heard was a big boom”, said Justin Payne, who was working on wallpaper inside his house when the plane struck the ground.
“Just like in the movies”, Jordan Durand said.
In the other incident, a U.S. Air Force elite Thunderbird jet crashed during a flyover for the Air Force Academy’s graduation ceremony near Peterson Air Force Base in Colorado.
It is also the third F/A-18 Super Hornet crash in a week. It appears he was unable to eject from his plane. A photo from Thursday morning showed the Blue Angels flying in formation over nearby Nashville.
The Navy Times says the Blue Angels are scheduled to perform 66 flight demonstrations across 34 locations in the USA in 2016.
The mission of the flight unit is to showcase the pride and professionalism of the United States Navy and Marine Corps through flight demonstrations and community outreach.
In Tennessee, Blue Angels fans expressed condolences and concerns on the team’s Facebook page.
The jet went down in a large field near the Smyrna Elementary School and Stones River Homes. The pilot died from injuries sustained during the crash.
Written by KRISTIN M. HALL, Associated Press and LOLITA C. BALDOR, Associated Press; Baldor reported from Washington.
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A U.S. Navy official tells NBC News that a jet with the Blue Angels has crashed in the Smyrna, Tennessee, area.
