MOODY AIR FORCE BASE -- An aerialaccident today claimed the lives of twoBlue Angelspilots, a Navy official said.The names are being withheld pendingnotification of the families.Navy Cmdr. Jack Papp said the crashoccurred about 12:20 p.m. near Moody,when the Blue Angels aircraft experiencedsome sort of trouble and then momentslater crashed.Eyewitnesses at the scene reported a loudsound was heard, then it was followed by acrash. No parachutes were seen comingfrom the direction of the aircraft.Reports at the scene indicated the number three aircraft and was circling to land onthe Moody runway when the crashoccurred. The aircraft plummeted into theground about two miles northeast of Moody, near New Bethel and Cooper roads."They were coming around in a diamondformation and then one veered off to theleft," said eyewitness Carlton Windham,who lives on Walkers Crossing near therunway. "It was very unusual to see himveer off like that. We were driving awayand we looked up and all we could seewas black smoke. There was no sound or anything. It didn't even shake the ground."Windham was asked to leave the areashortly after the crash. Other reports haveplaced the Blue Angels in a landingpattern."It didn't seem like reality," said eyewitness Russell Craven.The Blue Angels were flying familiarization
There have been five other militarycrashes near Moody Air Force Basesince 1990.In the past nine years, five F-16s andtwo A-10s have crashed. Thursday,during practice maneuvers an F/A-18(like the one pictured above) from the Navy Blue Angels demonstration teamcrashed resulting in the deaths of two pilots aboard.The F-16 accidents caused one civilianfatality and two pilot deaths as a resultof the crashes.Here is a chronology of Moody crashesin the past nine years:
April 21, 1997:
Following the lossof power to his engine, which was later determined to be a failure of a fuelflow sensor, 1st Lt. Joseph Thomas, of the 68th Fighter Squadron, ejectedfrom an F-16C near Pearson.
April 17, 1997:
After striking anuncharted radio tower, Capt. BrettDavis ejected from his spiraling A-10 just moments before it crashed in afireball into the ground.
Aug. 29, 1995:
An A-10 piloted by1st Lt. Greg Gilbreath crashed in ruralLowndes County catering Georgia 135and causing a small forest fire.Gilbreath parachuted to safety and wasunharmed.
April 4, 1991:
An F-16C "FightingFalcon" piloted by Georgia nativeCapt. William C. McGowan crashed inrural Echols County. McGowan wasnot injured. The control stick malfunctioned, a USAF investigationfound.
May 25, 1990:
A Moody jetcrashed into a Pearson home killing the pilot and a housekeeper. Maj. ArchieE. Stuart and Marian Lanier were
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Blue Angles Crash Moody Air Force Base
Story I wrote on the crash of the Blue Angels aerial display team at Moody Air Force Base. Online version was the first and beat CNN and other press outlets.
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