Pilot error is cited as the cause of June’s crash of a Blue Angel aircraft near Nashville, Tennessee, in which the pilot was killed.
The report, from the Naval Air Training Command, says Marine Corps Capt. Jeff Kuss was flying “too low and too fast” and lost control of his FA/18 Hornet as he transitioned from a climb into another maneuver. The report also says Kuss attempted to eject seconds before the crash.
“It found that the primary cause of the mishap was pilot error, with weather and fatigue as contributing causal factors,” said Commander Jeannie Groeneveld at NAT-C Headquarters in San Diego. “The mishap was not the result of any material failure of the F/A-18.”
Based on the findings of the investigation, 12 immediate actions and five additional safety measures will be implemented, most of which tailored for naval aviation as a whole.
“They have removed the ‘Split-S’ maneuver from the show until further notice,” Groeneveld said. “The Air Boss has directed that a formal, personal process for identifying risk prior to flying be put into place and annually reviewed.”
Some of the changes are in place for this weekend’s Blue Angels performance at the National Championship Air Races in Reno, Nevada. Others are long-term actions over the next year or so.
“The Air Boss, for long-term actions, is going to have an independent team going out to El Centro [California] during the practice season to do an assessment, just to give him an outside look,” said Groeneveld. She adds that while the new measures going into place are aimed at the Blue Angels, they’re already common practice in the rest of naval aviation.
The Blues flew only five aircraft after returning to the skies in early July, before adding a previous Blue Angel for the remainder of the 2016 schedule. But Commander Jeanne Groeneveld says they still feel the loss.
“Capt. Kuss was beloved among all naval aviators; his loss was devastating and felt across the naval aviation community,” she said. “We hope that things that have been identified will help avoid any mishaps in the future.”
On the same day, June 2, an F-16 jet from the U.S. Air Force Thunderbirds crashed in Colorado. The pilot ejected and wasn't seriously injured.
