RIP sailor.
With all those amateur photographers out there, I would expect that the crash was filmed.
Sad news. At least this dude died doing something many of us could only dream of. Godspeed.
Go to YouTube and look up ‘Star Wars Canyon’. The pilots know there are people there taking pictures, and some can’t help but show off. I bet that’s the case with this guy.
Best news video of the story I’ve seen. You can see the impact evidence of how the people at the top of the canyon were sprayed with debris.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u-jhNKIHNGM
Hmm...is that confirmation the pilot was in fact an American?
What a shame. Rest in Peace.
It only takes a fraction of a second of inattention and you are toast.
I remember of a story of an F16 pilot who was showing off for his girlfriend and her family on a ‘training flight’ and put the plane into the barn.
Oops.
Never mind the idiot who plowed a B52 into the ground trying to knife edge next to an airfield.
You’d think our pilots would know better, but apparently not.
That is just a baby canyon. My favorite canyon is Falcon canyon in Turkey. We called it Millenium Falcon canyon. Because the odds of successfully navigating the canyon were approximately 3,720 to 1. At least right near the bottom were few dared to go. The WSO would watch the radar altimeter so we didn’t pancake into the far wall in a turn, while I kept the tail as close to the rocks as possible without impact. It would abruptly end so you shot nearly straight up and called the range for entry. Too much fun!
He really smacked into that mountain.