Exclusive: Crash of Navy Blue Angels F/A-18C Hornet

This video presents never-before-seen footage showing the 2016 crash of a United States Navy Blue Angels F/A-18C Hornet, as well as the associated emergency response. The post-accident footage and photographs were obtained from a source who insisted on anonymity.

According to the command investigation report, Captain Jeffrey Kuss was fully qualified to fly his aircraft and was universally recognized as one of the most meticulous and professional Blue Angel pilots by his teammates. In addition, he had accumulated 1,686.5 total flight hours and had no previous military mishaps or flight violations. The Blue Angels were in Smyrna, Tennessee for the Great Tennessee Air Show and Kuss occupied the #6 position within the Blue Angels' final demonstration.

On June 2, 2016, Kuss performed a Tactical Demonstration of an F/A-18C aircraft during a practice flight in Smyrna, Tennessee. During the execution of a "Split S" maneuver, Kuss deviated from approved procedures which, compounded by several tactical errors and loss of situational awareness created a rate of descent during that maneuver that could not be arrested and resulted in ground impact. Based on the investigation, weather conditions and fatigue were contributing causal factors, but ultimately, the mishap was due to pilot error.

Several indicators from Kuss' behavior on the morning of the mishap suggest he was fatigued: Kuss did not sign his A sheet (accepting his aircraft) prior to the mishap flight and did not turn on his transponder (mode 3 IFF squawk) prior to take off for the mishap flight (both omissions were out of character). Additionally, he failed to retard the throttle out of afterburner during the mishap maneuver despite verbalizing his intent to do so on the radio.

On the day of the mishap, potential weather impacts of a scattered to broken cloud layer were discussed by Kuss and the Lead Solo. Clouds at about 3,000 feet near the projected flight path did not impact the solos ability to fly, but that weather was likely a contributing factor to Kuss' decision to initiate the "Split S" maneuver below the normal altitude. Airspeed higher than normal for the maneuver and the lower starting altitude limited decision-making opportunities and removed margins of error for corrections to the flight trajectory.

Kuss ejected into the fireball of his aircraft's explosion. This instantly incinerated Kuss's parachute, and Kuss did not decelerate.

00:00 Intro
00:21 Accident video w/ radio traffic
01:20 Post-accident footage & photos
04:08 Accident report

Видео Exclusive: Crash of Navy Blue Angels F/A-18C Hornet канала What You Haven't Seen