2007 Blue Angels South Carolina crash

Aviation accident

2007 Blue Angels South Carolina crash
Accident
Date	April 21, 2007 (2007-04-21)
Summary	G-LOC
Site	Near Marine Corps Air Station Beaufort, Beaufort, South Carolina, United States
Total fatalities	1
Total injuries	8
Aircraft
Aircraft type	McDonnell Douglas F/A-18 Hornet
Operator	United States Navy aerobatic team the Blue Angels
Registration	162897
Crew	1
Fatalities	1
Survivors	0
Ground casualties
Ground fatalities	0
Ground injuries	8

The 2007 Blue Angels South Carolina crash occurred on Saturday, April 21, 2007, when the Number 6 US Navy Blue Angels jet crashed during the final minutes of an air show at the Marine Corps Air Station Beaufort in Beaufort, South Carolina. The sole fatality was the pilot, Lieutenant Commander Kevin "Kojak" Davis. The body of the pilot and the flight recorder were recovered and moved to the local coroner's office. Eight nearby residents were injured and millions of dollars worth of private property damage were caused by flying debris.

A report was released on January 15, 2008, ending the investigation by the Navy into the crash. The report states that when LCDR Davis pulled back into a 6.8-g pull, he lost control of the aircraft due to G-force-induced Loss Of Consciousness (G-LOC).

Accident

All six McDonnell Douglas F/A-18 Hornets of the Blue Angels were making their final turns into the landing pattern when Lt. Cmdr. Davis, piloting Blue Angel #6, became disoriented by the G-forces of the turn. His airplane flew behind the audience and low over a tree-line, three miles away from air show center. The aircraft slid for two hundred to three hundred yards after it hit the ground. This was followed by a plume of black smoke, which Blue Angel #1 immediately began to circle while the others landed. Several rescue helicopters and local emergency vehicles went to the crash site in response to 9-1-1 calls.

Aftermath

The Blue Angels returned to their home base at Naval Air Station Pensacola, Florida, to discuss continuing their season. Sunday's air show went on as planned but, in a special tribute, the GEICO Skytypers flew the missing man formation in honor of the fallen Blue Angel.

Soon after LCDR Davis’ crash, the Blue Angels began performing a five-jet demonstration. The squadron called back former Blue Angel, LCDR Craig Olson, to fill the opposing solo position. LCDR Olson had previously served with the squadron from 2003 to 2005, during which time he flew both solo positions.

References

U.S. Navy "Blue Angels" jet crashes, Reuters, April 21, 2007 7:32PM EDT
Report: Blue Angels Pilot Dies In S.C. Plane Crash Archived August 18, 2007, at the Wayback Machine, Associated Press article, Posted on NBCSandiego.com, UPDATED: 3:33 pm PDT April 22, 2007
Fox News Live: 22 April 7, 10:08 AM Live Interview
^ Lowcountry Mourns Loss of Fallen Blue Angel Archived November 21, 2007, at the Wayback Machine (PDF version Archived June 20, 2007, at the Wayback Machine), The Jet Stream online, USMC, April 27, 2007 print edition
Amos, Smith, "Report: Blue Angels pilot became disoriented", Military Times, January 16, 2008. Archived February 3, 2009, at the Wayback Machine
"Blue Angel Pilot Killed in Air Show Crash Identified". US Navy. April 23, 2007. NNS070423-01. Archived from the original on April 30, 2007.
Pilot killed in S.C. Blue Angel crash, By Bruce Smith, Associated Press, Posted on Yahoo News Sat April 21, 7:47 PM ET
Report: Blue Angels Pilot Dies In S.C. Plane Crash Archived May 24, 2007, at the Wayback Machine
Blue Angel crashes; pilot killed; eyewitness reports home caught fire Archived September 28, 2007, at the Wayback Machine
"Blue Angels back home to mourn pilot". Boston Herald. Associated Press. April 24, 2007. Archived from the original on August 23, 2007.

External links

32°26′59″N 80°46′19″W / 32.44972°N 80.77194°W / 32.44972; -80.77194

v t e Aviation accidents and incidents in 2007 (2007)
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2006 ◄ ► 2008

Aviation accidents and incidents in 2007 (2007)

Jan 1 Adam Air Flight 574Jan 9 Aerian-TurM An-26 crashJan 24 Air West Flight 612Jan 25 Régional Flight 7775Feb 21 Adam Air Flight 172Mar 5 Zell am See mid-air collisionMar 7 Garuda Indonesia Flight 200Mar 17 UTair Flight 471Mar 23 Mogadishu TransAVIAexport crashApr 21 Blue Angels South Carolina crashApr 27 Shatoy Mi-8 crashMay 5 Kenya Airways Flight 507May 26 San Francisco Int'l runway incursionJun 3 Paramount Airlines helicopter crashJun 21 Free Airlines L-410 crashJun 25 PMTair Flight 241Jul 17 TAM Airlines Flight 3054Jul 27 Phoenix news helicopter collisionAug 9 Air Moorea Flight 1121Aug 20 China Airlines Flight 120Sep 9 Scandinavian Airlines System Flight 1209Sep 12 Scandinavian Airlines System Flight 2748Sep 16 One-Two-Go Airlines Flight 269Oct 4 Africa One Antonov An-26 crashOct 26 Philippine Airlines Flight 475Oct 27 Scandinavian Airlines System Flight 2867Nov 7 Nationwide Airlines Flight 723Nov 30 Atlasjet Flight 4203

2006 ◄ ► 2008

Aviation accidents and incidents in the United States and U.S. territories in the 2000s

2000

Alaska Airlines Flight 261 (January 2000)
Zion mid-air collision (February 8 2000)
Emery Worldwide Airlines Flight 17 (February 16 2000)
Southwest Airlines Flight 1455 (March 2000)
East Coast Aviation Services British Aerospace Jetstream crash (May 2000)
Southwest Airlines Flight 1763 (August 2000)

2001

Oklahoma State Cowboys basketball team plane crash (January 2001)
Delta Air Lines Flight 1989 (September 11 2001)
American Airlines Flight 587 (November 2001)

September 11 attacks	American Airlines Flight 11 United Airlines Flight 175 American Airlines Flight 77 United Airlines Flight 93 template

2002

Tampa Cessna 172 crash (January 2002)
Airtanker crashes (June 2002)
America West Airlines Flight 556 (July 1 2002)
FedEx Express Flight 1478 (July 26 2002)

2003

Air Midwest Flight 5481 (January 2003)
Colgan Air Flight 9446 (August 2003)
FedEx Express Flight 647 (December 2003)

2004

Northwest Airlines Flight 327 (June 2004)
Air Tahoma Flight 185 (August 2004)
Pinnacle Airlines Flight 3701 (October 14 2004)
Corporate Airlines Flight 5966 (October 19 2004)

2005

Logan Airport runway incursion (June 2005)
JetBlue Flight 292 (September 2005)
Southwest Airlines Flight 1248 (December 8 2005)
Chalk's Ocean Airways Flight 101 (December 19 2005)

2006

FedEx Express Flight 630 (July 2006)
Comair Flight 5191 (August 2006)
New York City Cirrus SR20 crash (October 11 2006)
Continental Airlines Flight 1883 (October 28 2006)
Mercy Air Bell 412 crash (December 2006)

2007

Blue Angels South Carolina crash (April 2007)
San Francisco International Airport runway incursion (May 2007)
Phoenix news helicopter collision (July 2007)

2008

Andersen Air Force Base B-2 accident (February 2008)*
Guam B-52 crash (July 21 2008)*
East Coast Jets Flight 81 (July 31 2008)
South Carolina Learjet 60 crash (September 2008)
San Diego F/A-18 crash (December 8 2008)
Continental Airlines Flight 1404 (December 20 2008)

2009

US Airways Flight 1549 (January 2009)
Colgan Air Flight 3407 (February 2009)
Southwest Airlines Flight 2294 (July 2009)
Hudson River mid-air collision (August 2009)
Northwest Airlines Flight 188 (October 21 2009)
California mid-air collision (October 29 2009)

This list is incomplete.
An asterisk (*) denotes an incident that took place in a U.S. territory.
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