The pilot of a U.S. Navy Blue Angels jet was killed Thursday during practice for a weekend air show, hours after an Air Force Thunderbirds F-16 crashed following a flyover at the U.S. Air Force Academy commencement ceremony attended by the President, officials said.
The Navy said the Blue Angels pilot died from injuries suffered in the crash in Tennessee. The Thunderbirds pilot safely ejected before the plane went down in Colorado, officials said.
A Navy statement said the service was in the process of notifying the pilot’s family and the pilot’s name was being withheld; he was later revealed to be Capt. Jeff Kuss, a Colorado native who joined the team in 2014. The crash occurred at the beginning of practice, just after the pilot took off, the Navy said. The plane went down about 2 miles from the Smyrna airport.
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Photo by U.S. Navy
