Sad day in Aviation. One of the Pensacola NAS Blue Angel jets crashed on takeoff at practice for an air show at SmyrnaTN. The pilot was killed. The last Blues crash was in 2007. One of the Air Force Thunderbirds crashed in Colorado, but the pilot ejected safely.
The Blues fly right over our house almost every Tuesday and Wednesday during the "Season" on practice runs--often less than 500 feet, since we are between Perdido Bay and a swamp. We also used our trawler as part of a "virtual runway" for 3 years during the Pensacola Beach air show, so we were at all of the briefings during that time. The pilots flying upside down used a Coast Guard cutter about 1200 yards away, on a constant bearing to orient the flight path. Then for several years we hosted the families of the pilots aboard our boat for the show. These guys are super, and we always feel very badly when one is lost.
Marie tells me she heard that the pilot rode the plane down to avoid crashing into populated areas. That is the kind of guys these pilots are!
The Blues fly right over our house almost every Tuesday and Wednesday during the "Season" on practice runs--often less than 500 feet, since we are between Perdido Bay and a swamp. We also used our trawler as part of a "virtual runway" for 3 years during the Pensacola Beach air show, so we were at all of the briefings during that time. The pilots flying upside down used a Coast Guard cutter about 1200 yards away, on a constant bearing to orient the flight path. Then for several years we hosted the families of the pilots aboard our boat for the show. These guys are super, and we always feel very badly when one is lost.
Marie tells me she heard that the pilot rode the plane down to avoid crashing into populated areas. That is the kind of guys these pilots are!
