The Blue Angels flight team member who died during a demonstration in June had been traveling too fast at the time of the incident and was not flying high enough to finish the maneuver he had attempted, according to a Navy report published late Thursday.
A Navy investigation concluded pilot error as the reason for the crash. Marine Capt. Jeff Kuss took flight in Smyrna, Tenn., during a practice run before an air show that was supposed to take place the first weekend of June. His Navy Blue Angel F/A-18 crashed shortly after taking off, just two miles from the regional airport runway.
The report — released to the Associated Press under the Freedom of Information Act — detailed how he had been attempting a 180-degree turn that involves inverting the jet and then making a half-loop to go in the opposite direction at a lower altitude. Pilot fatigue and cloudy weather were also cited as contributing factors behind the crash.
Kuss was from Durango, Colo., and left behind a wife and two children. He had served in Afghanistan and logged 1,700 hours of flying time.
As a result of the crash, the Blue Angels have banned the maneuver Kuss attempted at shows, and also asked pilots to focus on resting between flight demonstrations.
