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Blue Angels Crash Report released
The final report on the crash of U.S. Navy Blue Angel pilot LCDR Kevin “Kojak” Davis was released to the Associated Press today after it was requested from the Navy through a Freedom of Information Act request.
http://www.daytondailynews.com/n/content/shared-gen/ap/National/BlueAngelsCrash.html
The findings don’t really surprise me after viewing YouTube videos of Davis’s hard turn to join up with the five other Blue Angels F/A-18s.
“In his final turn to attempt to rendezvous with the other Blues, he put a very fast, high-G turn on the aircraft. A real aggressive turn,” Capt. Jack Hanzlik, a Navy spokesman and former aviator, told the AP on Monday. Davis’ parents were watching the team perform. An investigator reviewing flight data found that as the turn subjected Davis to six times the force of gravity, a temporary decrease in blood flow to his brain likely caused him to experience tunnel vision and become disoriented, the report found. However, Davis worked to regain control of the plane, “and in the last few seconds he may have been aware of his low altitude and was attempting to save the aircraft,” said the report by Marine Lt. Col. Javier J. Ball.
It is sad to learn that his parents were in the audience at the air show in Beaufort and witnessed the crash.
In 2006 I was lucky enough to fly with Davis when he was Blue Angel 7, the narrator and VIP pilot with the team. Davis subjected me to 7.8 Gs, making me feel like I weighed almost 1,200 lbs. and then pass out. The Blue Angels and Thunderbirds maintain great physical conditioning and G-tollerance through training and flying, but it is still very physically demanding on the body to endure those Gs.
See the video of my flight here (click on the image):
Davis was a genuinely great guy to have as a VIP pilot, narrator and protector of our country.
His parents should be proud.
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