Blue Angels Lose a Plane and Pilot

It's very rare for the Blue Angels Navy Demonstration Flight Team to have any kind of accident, but the risk is always there, and Saturday they lost a plane during a demonstration:

BEAUFORT, S.C. (April 21) - A Navy Blue Angel jet crashed during an air show Saturday, plunging into a neighborhood of small homes and trailers and killing the pilot.

Witnesses said the planes were flying in formation during the show at the Marine Corps Air Station at about 4 p.m. and one dropped below the trees and crashed, sending up clouds of smoke.

Raymond Voegeli, a plumber, was backing out of a driveway when the plane ripped through a grove of pine trees, dousing his truck in flames and debris. He said wreckage hit "plenty of houses and mobile homes."

"It was just a big fireball coming at me," said Voegeli, 37. "It was just taking pine trees and just clipping them."

Witnesses said metal and plastic wreckage -- some of it on fire -- hit homes in the neighborhood, located about 35 miles northwest of Hilton Head Island. William Winn, the county emergency management director, said several homes were damaged. Eight people on the ground were injured.

The crash took place in the final minutes of the air show, said Lt. Cmdr. Anthony Walley, a Blue Angel pilot. He said the name of the pilot would not be released until relatives were notified of the death.

"Our squadron and the entire U.S. Navy are grieving the loss of a great American, a great Naval officer and a great friend," Walley said.

When I lived in San Diego in 1979 the team was coming to Miramar for their annual show when pilot, doing a rolling maneuver over the runway, ran out of sky and the plane disintigrated as it crashed along the runway. I remember seeing footage of the crash as well as the sight of the remaining planes circling as the crash crews were taking care of the downed plane. The team went on and flew both days of the show with only 5 planes. That must have been tough. This picture was taken of the #6 plane minutes before it crashed.



The Military Channel periodically runs a four-part series on the Blue Angels that is a fascinating look into the team and how they go about their training and demo flying. Look for it - it's called "A Year In the Life" and takes the team through an entire season from early pilot selections to training to shows. It gives you a new appreciation for what they do.

UPDATE: A TV news report indicated that the pilot was in his second year with the Blues, but his first as a demonstration pilot. That means he spent last year as the show's narrator and advance guy flying plane #7, the two-seater used for media flights. The usual rotation is for the narrator to move into the opposing solo position (#6) in his second year.

UPDATE 2: Fox News blows it. In a video package on the crash they say they have video of the downed pilot during a previous flight in which he took an actor up as preparation for a role. One problem - the video shows the actor being strapped into one of the Air Force Thunderbirds aircraft. Sloppy work by the Fox News producer.