Definitely very sad.  I have grown up watching the t-birds and angels since the 80's when I was a kid.  As I said on facebook, this is the price that sometimes must be paid for those who push it to the edge and bring us the wonderful sights and sounds we all enjoy, not to mention the skills that defend our country via air power! 

I read the day after that Captain Kruss stayed with his f-18 until he was clear of civilian population, avoiding bail out the moment he realized his bird was finished.  I dont know know to what extent that is true but I wholeheartedly believe that he would do that if that was the case. 

What are the odds?

 

Well, the Russian Knights jet demonstration team suffered a fatal crash today outside Moscow and the Patrouille Suisse jet demonstration suffered a non-fatal mid-air collision today in the Netherlands.... one week to the day after the two American teams had their incidents.

 

Amazing. The Snowbirds and Red Arrows should stand down for a week to simply avoid whatever bad karma is out there right now.

I'm not here to speculatively debate the cause of someones demise until an official statement is out. If you wish to do so, I am sure there are other forums out there with lots of lively discussion for you.

 

I only posted the new video and pointed out the visible signs of engine failure it showed. To me, it is clear from the video that it was not g-loc, and that no one was hurt on the ground through purposeful action of the pilot, and not just dumb luck as implied by the insistence that the crash was somehow g-loc related. By arguing that it was g-loc, or pilot error, in the face of clear visible evidence of mechanical failure, it dishonors somebody who sacrificed himself to ensure no one else got hurt in the crash.