Blue Angel down

[v2]

A few photos:
CNN.com

[evangilder]

By the way, that famous video of the reported passing out in the back of the Blue Angels jet...Lt Cmdr Davis was the pilot. Here, Steve Beatty reflects on Kevin Davis:

Reporter took memorable flight with calm, supportive pilot | ajc.com

[102first_hussars]

That sucks, every now and then one of our Snowbirds go down, and the pilots rarely bail out

[FLYBOYJ]

This sucks guys... News we hate to hear

[Gnomey]

Yep, shame to hear. Any word on what caused it yet?

[evangilder]

It will be a few weeks before the accident review is done. Everything is speculation right now. Some say that he suddenly dropped from formation, some say the jet hit a tree. The accident review board will gather all the facts and we'll probably have a clearer picture.

Lt Cmdr Davis was a class guy and everyone that I know that met him really thought he was a super guy.

[twoeagles]

My old room mate, a retired Navy Captain and former F-18 squadron CO, sent me this from his point of view:

"The video helps to, in my opinion, confirm the opinion of the writer.
First a link to the video of the event. Then an explanation below:

LiveLeak.com - Blue Angels Crash

More detail available today. Having seen video of the crash, my initial speculation is that there was a G induced loss of consciousness (GLOC). The most aggressive flying in the Blue Angel show takes place in the join ups behind show center. The timing requires "expeditious" join ups involving huge overtake speeds and high G maneuvering in the terminal phase of the rejoin to dissipate the overtake. The video I saw shows No. 6 closing on the formation for the rejoin, but before he gets there, the jet lags the formation, goes outside the turn radius and descends in seeming controlled flight to the tree line. This would be consistent with GLOC on the rendezvous. If the pilot passed out at the join up, he'd be back on the power. Upon loss of consciousness, the G would ease
immediately taking him outside the formation turn radius. At flight idle, the jet would slowly descend. To regain consciousness, the pilot needs blood to flow to the brain which takes a varying amount of time depending how deep the GLOC. The senses return in reverse sequence to their loss. Hearing, then vision, cognition, then motor control. The frustrating part is when you can see and understand the problem but don't have the motor control to manipulate the flight controls appropriately.

I have done this to myself in the Hornet, thankfully not so close to the ground.

Of course, without the determinations of the safety investigation, the foregoing is mere speculation. However, a catastrophic, double engine failure is unheard of in the Hornet, and it would likely provide evidence in smoke, flames and parts emanating from the tailpipes prior to the crash. The media all seem focused on the impact with trees and power lines, but that is inevitable when falling to the earth.

This pilot was no rookie. A former Tomcat driver and TOPGUN grad, he was an experienced fighter pilot. GLOC is something that can effect even the, most seasoned pilots and it varies day to day and can turn on something as innocuous as time since the pilot's last meal."

[Soundbreaker Welch?]

Those Blue Angel boys end up becoming angels themselves too soon.

[CharlesBronson]

My condolences, is always devastating to lose good pilots.

Those Blue Angel boys end up becoming angels themselves too soon.

Beatiful phrase I agree 100 %.

[mkloby]

Originally Posted by twoeagles

My old room mate, a retired Navy Captain and former F-18 squadron CO, sent me this from his point of view:

"The video helps to, in my opinion, confirm the opinion of the writer.
First a link to the video of the event. Then an explanation below:

LiveLeak.com - Blue Angels Crash

More detail available today. Having seen video of the crash, my initial speculation is that there was a G induced loss of consciousness (GLOC). The most aggressive flying in the Blue Angel show takes place in the join ups behind show center. The timing requires "expeditious" join ups involving huge overtake speeds and high G maneuvering in the terminal phase of the rejoin to dissipate the overtake. The video I saw shows No. 6 closing on the formation for the rejoin, but before he gets there, the jet lags the formation, goes outside the turn radius and descends in seeming controlled flight to the tree line. This would be consistent with GLOC on the rendezvous. If the pilot passed out at the join up, he'd be back on the power. Upon loss of consciousness, the G would ease
immediately taking him outside the formation turn radius. At flight idle, the jet would slowly descend. To regain consciousness, the pilot needs blood to flow to the brain which takes a varying amount of time depending how deep the GLOC. The senses return in reverse sequence to their loss. Hearing, then vision, cognition, then motor control. The frustrating part is when you can see and understand the problem but don't have the motor control to manipulate the flight controls appropriately.

I have done this to myself in the Hornet, thankfully not so close to the ground.

Of course, without the determinations of the safety investigation, the foregoing is mere speculation. However, a catastrophic, double engine failure is unheard of in the Hornet, and it would likely provide evidence in smoke, flames and parts emanating from the tailpipes prior to the crash. The media all seem focused on the impact with trees and power lines, but that is inevitable when falling to the earth.

This pilot was no rookie. A former Tomcat driver and TOPGUN grad, he was an experienced fighter pilot. GLOC is something that can effect even the, most seasoned pilots and it varies day to day and can turn on something as innocuous as time since the pilot's last meal."

GLOC is what I thought right away after buddies at MCAS Beaufort described the mishap.

[Soundbreaker Welch?]

They don't wear G-suits because it's doesn't to allow their hands enough manuverability on the throttle for their close flying in formation or othe extreme manuvers they do.

The Thunderbirds do use G-suits so I guess it's just differant levels of safety. G-suits aren't perfect, so maybe that's another reason why the Angels do it the hard way.