OT- Thunderbird jet crashes in south Colorado Springs; pilot unhurt

[HuskerBlueDevil]

The jet went down in an open area south of the airport/Pete Field and the pilot ejected. Happened right after the Thunderbird performance over the AF Academy graduation. Reports having pilot walking around unhurt. Whew!!!!

Edit: And now there's a report of a Blue Angels F/A-18e down in Tennessee. WTF?!

 

[4norsemen]

Blue Angel Navy pilot died in crash near Nashville.Was Colorado native. Very sad.

 

[jflores]

These planes go down more frequently than one would think.

F-16 are known as lawn darts for a reason.

Its still tragic though, when the serviceman loses his life.

 

[leodisflowers]

Having grown up in Colorado Springs, taking in the graduation a few times as a kid was awesome. Dad was in the Army, but frequented the Academy a lot for school functions and football games. That sucks though. The thunderbirds are awesome watch.

 

[HuskerBlueDevil]

Having grown up in Colorado Springs, taking in the graduation a few times as a kid was awesome. Dad was in the Army, but frequented the Academy a lot for school functions and football games. That sucks though. The thunderbirds are awesome watch.

Prayers for the Navy pilot and his family.

I live in the Springs. Although I generally work from home, my company has an office with a great view of the AF Academy stadium. Every year the company has a lunch followed by a viewing of the Thunderbirds. I never miss it. Although it is somewhat sobering to think that if the F-16 went down because of mechanical failure, what if the failure had occurred 20 minutes earlier? BTW, as amazing as the Thunderbirds are, the flyovers prior to football games are very cool too, especially when another service academy is in town. The only time I've seen a B-2 Spirit in person was a flyover prior to the Army game some years back.

 

[HuskerBlueDevil]

These planes go down more frequently than one would think.

F-16 are known as lawn darts for a reason.

Its still tragic though, when the serviceman loses his life.

Interesting how things happens. I had never heard of "lawn darts" before, but the husband of one of my co-workers yesterday at the flyover used that term. He explained what it meant when I asked. Now here you use it. From now on I won't look at F-16's flying near my house on approach to Pete Field the same way.

 

[leodisflowers]

Prayers for the Navy pilot and his family.

I live in the Springs. Although I generally work from home, my company has an office with a great view of the AF Academy stadium. Every year the company has a lunch followed by a viewing of the Thunderbirds. I never miss it. Although it is somewhat sobering to think that if the F-16 went down because of mechanical failure, what if the failure had occurred 20 minutes earlier? BTW, as amazing as the Thunderbirds are, the flyovers prior to football games are very cool too, especially when another service academy is in town. The only time I've seen a B-2 Spirit in person was a flyover prior to the Army game some years back.

How long have you lived in the Springs? Such a great town. Although I was 11 when we moved back to Nebraska, I was sad to go.

 

[Spartanhusker]

Was in The Springs(Monument) last weekend.....so sorry to hear this.

Loved playing golf at Bear Dance and eating at Castle Cafe....

 

[HuskerBlueDevil]

How long have you lived in the Springs? Such a great town. Although I was 11 when we moved back to Nebraska, I was sad to go.

I have lived here 22 years. My guess is that it has changed since you were here. Still a good place to live, but over 700,000 in the metro area and unfortunately it has grown so fast all the negatives that come with a large city (crime, pollution, clueless government, traffic problems, etc.) are present, but all the good stuff associated with a larger city haven't caught up. I would guess that in 8-12 years Colorado Springs will be a much nicer place to live than it is now.

 

[newAD]

Prayers for the Navy pilot and his family.

I live in the Springs. Although I generally work from home, my company has an office with a great view of the AF Academy stadium. Every year the company has a lunch followed by a viewing of the Thunderbirds. I never miss it. Although it is somewhat sobering to think that if the F-16 went down because of mechanical failure, what if the failure had occurred 20 minutes earlier? BTW, as amazing as the Thunderbirds are, the flyovers prior to football games are very cool too, especially when another service academy is in town. The only time I've seen a B-2 Spirit in person was a flyover prior to the Army game some years back.

I live in the flight path for landing at Offutt, and you get so used to the sound of planes you don't even think about it. That is until a plane that sounds completely different goes over. One year a B2 was flying in for a show at Offutt, and since it sounded so different I had to run out and look to see what it was. Really cool. Sure wish I had a chance to get my camera before it got to far away.

 

[HuskerBlueDevil]

I live in the flight path for landing at Offutt, and you get so used to the sound of planes you don't even think about it. That is until a plane that sounds completely different goes over. One year a B2 was flying in for a show at Offutt, and since it sounded so different I had to run out and look to see what it was. Really cool. Sure wish I had a chance to get my camera before it got to far away.

I'm exactly the same way. I live about 5 miles north of Pete Field. All sorts of planes come in as they use Pete for a landing point on cross country training missions. I've seen everything from B-52's to a P-3 Orion. But my mind notes new engine sounds and I've seen my first V-22 Ospreys, F-117 Nighthawks, and B1b Lancers that way. A couple of months ago I heard a sound and thought "those are big radial engines". I shot out into the back yard and it was a B-29, having just taken off, climbing out. It was in the Springs for 2 days and I saw it several times. A great place for a complete airplane nerd like me, just as I imagine Offutt is.