Navy Blue Angel down
 

One person reported dead, but not the pilot at a Navy Blue Angel air show in South Carolina ... This is just an early report:

http://www.cnn.com/2007/US/04/21/blu...ash/index.html

Damn:down:

Fox is saying that the pilot was the fatality.

They need to swap out all those airframes. They're all lot 6's and 8's -- they need to update to lot 17's or something. Probably take quite a bit of retraining for the avionics, but at least the airframe wouldn't have so many hours on it. They have really outstanding maintenance practices, but that just isn't any substitute for non-destructive-inspection like the Airforce does on their planes, and ordinary airframe stress.

I am never surprised when one of those planes drops out. It is nothing less than astounding how long they've already lasted.


note- I don't remember bunos, but lot 6's date back to 1988.

I live in Penascola,Fl hometown for the Blue Angels. We have direct commmunity contacts here.

They have confirmed the pilot is dead.

Here is the link to our newspaper here in Pensacola

http://www.pensacolanewsjournal.com/.../70421005/1006

:cry:

:damn:

Such shows are simply stupid. I still have the TV-images of Ramstein on my mind. It's like holding live-firing excersices with tanks in urban areas.

I think you just answered your own Signature there skybird

No its not. It is meant to drum up support for the military and it does a great job at it, by inspiring our young.

Airliners are more dangerous and have a much worse safety record. Maybe we should ground them so that they don't fly over our homes anymore. (sarcasm)

-S

PS. Sad day. I feel for those boys.

Then play honest - give the young a strong impression of real war, not showbiz. If then they still wish to join, okay. It is immoral to cheat and trick somebody into joining by showing-off like this and hiding the grim truth at the same time.

Airliners, btw usually try to fly in a way to keep risks as low as possible. Airshows like the Blkue Angels try exactly the opposite and mock the devil while trying to get away with it. Well, maybe I have a too cold temper to be impressed by such schoolyard behavior. I don't see neither value nor pride in taking greater risks than needed, or taking risks for something that is not worth it.

Is there a precedent for ANY military recruitment tactics being honest? Or any type of advertisement/promotion methods for that matter? :p
It'd certainly be silly to put a disclaimer 'warning: military service may be hazardous to your health' on it, too. 'The young' should know better.

Certainly not. But is that practice more excusable only for that reason? Again the answer: certainly not.

As far as the air shows - attendance to these is voluntary, and otherwise the military with all its practices is financed by the tax buck after all. I think if people opposed these events, then they wouldn't take place.

Or maybe that's as naive way of thinking about it.

In any case, I don't think these are going away any time soon, just as other dangerous events like racing and stunt shows.

The Blue Angles have flown over my home town several times during air shows. You don't have to be at the air show to have the jets flying low over your house. The fly over many square miles of territory during an air show.

I read that this jet flew into a power line and disintegrated so quickly that the pilot didn't have time to eject.

We lost a good man.

Attendance is not VOLUNTARY when you can't stop them from flying over your house in the country.

I ran off the road last time there were here. I was so intent on watching these jets fly off in the distance that I missed a sharp turn and ran off the road into a ditch. Had the boat trailer and boat behind me. Like to have never got that mess out of the ditch. And this was in the next county from where the air show was being peformed. Luckily I didn't do much damage to the truck or the trailer or boat.