Thunderbirds fighter jet crashes in Colorado Springs after flyover at Air Force Academy graduation

Minutes after his team streaked over President Obama and Air Force Academy cadets at a graduation ceremony on Thursday, the pilot of a Thunderbirds fighter jet maneuvered his plane away from homes as it crashed into a field near Colorado Springs, The Denver Post reported.

The pilot, Maj. Alex Turner, walked away after safely ejecting into a neighborhood, and no one on the ground was hurt. The F-16 went down in the Security-Widefield area about 1 p.m., approximately five miles south of Peterson Air Force base, where it was headed. The white jet was upright and largely intact after skidding to a stop.

The crash was one of two involving the military’s best-known precision flying demonstration teams after a Blue Angels pilot from Colorado died in a fiery wreck while taking off from an airport near Nashville, Tenn.

Obama briefly met with the pilot who crashed near Colorado Springs, shaking hands with Turner before departing on Air Force One. Press Secretary Josh Earnest said the president “thanked the pilot for his service,” according to a pool report.

Officials said late Thursday that the jet will remain where it is under security and a team of investigators will arrive Saturday.

Turner was examined at a hospital and released, officials said.

Turner radioed he was having trouble with the jet and trying to direct it away from homes before the crash, said Lt. Col. Christopher Hammond, commander of the Thunderbirds.

“The flight condition of the aircraft when the pilot abandoned it was he was preparing for landing,” Hammond said at a news conference. “He had already put his gear down.”

“The aircraft did not catch fire,” said Jeff Bohn, a Peterson spokesman.

Hazardous-materials teams from the Air Force base and from Colorado Springs were dispatched. The Thunderbirds said there was no hazard to the public.

Bohn said the aircraft’s relatively good condition after the crash is a testament to the pilot’s ability. 

Source : MENA