Does anyone know the cause of the Blue Angels crash earlier today?
I’m not an NTSB or Navy crash investigator but I have spent a number of years as a CAP Search & Rescue Team Member. All that I’ve read and seen indicates to me that Commander Davis was not at fault; that what happened was simply that as the team was forming up for one of its last Delta Formation passes, they were very low; While it’s still very early in the investigation all that I’ve seen seems to say that #6 was the victim of birds ingested into both engines which cause both to fail at the same time. With total loss of power that low to the ground there was very little he or anyone else in his place could have done. The General Electric F-404 engine is reliable and as rugged as jet engines can be but by their nature jet engines are rather delicate and birds around airshow sites and airfields will be a constant problem into the foreseeable future. Yes. Cdr. Davis did strike some tall pine trees BUT several eyewitnesses said they saw him drop out of formation before he hit those pines.
