As a Navy brat, I grew up worshiping the Blue Angels. Indeed, my brother and I both had fantasies of flying those planes. There even are a couple of pictures of us boys actually standing next to one of the planes with its pilot -- being an officer's kid has some advantages.

And so stories like this one leave me with a heavy heart.

A Navy Blue Angel fighter jet crashed during an air show Saturday, plunging into a neighborhood of small homes and trailers and killing the pilot, the county coroner said.

It was the first death of a Blue Angel pilot since 1999.

Witnesses said the Navy aerial-demonstration team, made up of six planes, was flying in formation at Marine Corps Air Station Beaufort when one jet dropped below the tree line and crashed, sending up clouds of smoke.

It was not immediately known whether anyone on the ground was injured.

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The Blue Angels were formed in 1946 to promote public interest in naval aviation. Flying F/A-18s painted navy blue, the team performs nationally at air shows, spring through fall, executing highly synchronized aerial acrobatics that bring the fighters within feet of each other at high speed.

Twenty-four Blue Angel pilots have died in accidents, including the one killed Saturday. In 1999, two were killed when an F/A-18 crashed into a stand of pine trees in Georgia as the team practiced for a show.

May the family and colleagues of the pilot who died yesterday -- whose name has yet to be released -- be comforted in this time of sorrow.

Posted by: Greg at 02:48 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
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