The two demonstration jet crashes this week are not a result of the readiness crisis impacting other parts of the military, according to a former commander of the Air Force Thunderbirds.
J.V. Venable said readiness is suffering across the military as tight budgets force reductions in training and maintenance, echoing what many military leaders have told Congress in recent months.
But in the case of the military’s air demonstration teams, both the Navy Blue Angels and the Air Force Thunderbirds, the maintenance and amount of flying time pilots receive is not an issue in this week’s incidents.
“The readiness of these two units is not in question,” said Venable, who now serves as a senior research fellow for defense policy at the Heritage Foundation. “They’re flying six days a week, they fly across the U.S. to air show venues. These pilots are getting a great deal of flying time because of demands of their position.”
On Thursday afternoon, an Air Force F-16 doing a flyover of the Air Force Academy’s commencement with the Thunderbirds crashed in Colorado Springs. The pilot was able to safely eject and later met with the president, who was speaking at the graduation ceremony and thanked him for his service.
Later on Thursday, a Navy F/A-18 with the Blue Angels crashed shortly after take off during practice in Smyrna, Tenn., killing the pilot, who was later identified as No. 6 pilot, Capt. Jeff Kuss. The demonstration group canceled its scheduled show for the weekend in light of the accident.
“We don’t yet know all the details of these incidents, but they are the latest in an alarming increase of significant military accidents,” said Rep. Mac Thornberry, R-Texas, and chairman of the House Armed Services Committee. “Those who have died and their families deserve a full, objective, complete look at the circumstances and any deeper causes that should be addressed.”
Despite the two incidents happening the same day, Venable stressed that it was just a tragic coincidence.
“There is no correlation whatsoever. It’s not a terrorism, it’s not someone subverting in any way,” he said.
Venable said a team of investigators, including pilots, flight surgeons, safety specialists and safety technicians who specialize in the type of jet, rushed to the scene of the crash as soon as possible. If someone dies in the crash, the senior ranking member of the team must be a general or admiral.
The team will look at the crash site, eyewitness accounts and any video to put together a timeline of what went wrong to lead to the crash, including human errors, mechanical failings, the state of the atmosphere that day and what training pilots have had. Venable also said the planes’ maintenance records will be “rifled through to the letter.”
In the case of the Air Force Thunderbirds crash, Venable said he believes the team will wrap up its investigation quickly because the aircraft is mostly intact. He said the investigators will “easily” be able to begin briefings on what went wrong within 30 days. Venable’s prediction is a fuel or mechanical issue.
The Navy Blue Angels crash, however, he expects to take longer based on footage he saw of the crash site that showed a large plume of dark smoke after the F/A-18 hit the ground “at a high rate of speed and a steep dive angle.”
“The wreckage will be very much in disarray, it will take them a while to put the crash scene back together,” Venable said.
Since the crash occurred during take off, Venable said his initial thoughts for cause would be a problem with motor or flight controls, or an issue with a bird since it happened at a low altitude.
The Navy announced Thursday night following the crash that the air show scheduled for this weekend in Tennessee would be canceled and Navy Times reported that the team would suspend its flying until further notice.
Venable said the demo teams would begin to methodically get back in the air once senior leaders have a firm grasp of what went wrong. But he also noted that neither team has any spare pilots. As a result, he said he expected the Blue Angels to fly any remaining shows this season with just five pilots once they are back in the air.
