Posted on 06/08/2016 12:32:58 PM PDT by Yo-Yo
Until now, there has been little quality video that show the events leading up to the tragic loss of Captain Mike Kuss in Blue Angel #6 on June 2. This new video was posted by what appears to be an onlooker checking out the Blue Angels practice flight from near Smryna Airport’s tower.
You can clearly see the solos departure at the beginning of the demo, with #5 executing the dirty roll and #6 executing a low transition and high performance climb, after which it comes falling back to the ground. The camera briefly breaks away to catch the four-ship diamond flying over before turning back rapidly to the massive fireball caused by the F/A-18 Hornet's impact with the ground.
The group of people watching nearby is obviously shocked by the crash, and just seconds later, there are sounds of emergency vehicles beginning to roll. Heartbreakingly, you can see #5 flying high overhead at the end of the video, just after the crash.
The video appears to be authentic, but these days you can never be certain. The only anomaly I noticed was a bit of stuttering when the jet is very small in the frame and in a low contrast area. Also, be warned there is some language that is not safe for work.
H/t to TWZ reader Southcal for sending this over.
Contact the author tyler@thedrive.com
Just had an email from pilot in CO that stated that the crash of thunderbird was caused by fuel exhaustion. Obama was delayed and all of them were bingo by the time of the fly over.
Really...yikes
Not saying your pilot friend is wrong, but I find that hard to believe. Both Obama’s flight and the time over the Academy were worked out well in advance, and planned for.
Call me sentimental but at that point I would first ask "See a chute, I hope the pilot got out..."
If this is true, that’s nuclear and needs to get out.
But of course, Obama is utterly notorious for being very late, making people wait, etc. I would hope the T-birds wouldn’t get that close to bingo though due to scheduling BS imposed on the graduation.
If so, that would be extremely unprofessional. But it has the feel of a joke based on Obamas normal way of acting.
Did Obama’s green fuel kill another pilot?
“But of course, Obama is utterly notorious for being very late, making people wait, etc.”
Surely someone here knows someone who was there.
Removing the crashed plane - time lapse:
http://kdvr.com/2016/06/07/crews-remove-thunderbirds-jet-after-crash-last-week-in-colorado-springs/
So, again, everything is Obama’s fault! Color me unsurprised.
Wait... that’s a Thunderbird.
Sorry, I had the wrong crash.
As a long time former Viper maintainer (86-04) the Thunderbird crash looks like engine failure to me.
It might have been an engine failure....but why then did the T-Bird NOT burst into flame upon impact?
You find it hard to believe Jughead was late and expected the world to wait for him? Why would that surprise you? I’d be surprised if he was on time...
I thought it was unusual that the plane didn't seem to explode or burn up after the crash.
It didn't burst into flames because it didn't break up on impact. Even if it ran the tanks "dry,", there's still more than enough residual fuel and hydraulic fluid to burst into flames if it augured in. The aircraft did not impact the ground vertically, it looks like it glided in to a relatively benign gear-up landing.
The Thunderbird aircraft crash site:
Don't worry, this thread was about the Blue Angels crash that happened on the same day as the Thunderbird crash, but somehow it morphed into a discussion about the Thunderbird crash.
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