A Blue Angels pilot who died when his F/A-18 fighter jet crashed near Nashville, Tennessee, had wanted to fly since he was a child, relatives said.
The pilot killed Thursday has been identified as Marine Capt. Jeff Kuss, his family confirmed to
It’s hard to put into words right now, but it’s beautiful that a person can live and die engaged in their life’s pursuits,’ said his grandfather, Dolph Kuss, reached at his home in Durango, Colorado.
This was his dream since he was a child, to be an aviator, a flier.’
He choked back tears and said he was struggling to gather his thoughts.
A Blue Angels F/A-18 fighter jet pilot is dead following a crash (pictured) on Thursday near Nashville, Tennessee
It’s hard to celebrate someone’s life in this way,’ he said. ‘It is certainly a shock. Everything in life has its dangers, I guess.’
Kuss was a married father of two young children from Durango and joined the Blue Angels in 2014. He had accumulated more than 1,400 flight hours and 175 carrier-arrested landings.
It was the second fighter jet crash of the day for the military’s elite fighter jet performance teams. A member of the U.S. Air Force Thunderbirds crashed in Colorado after a flyover for the Air Force Academy graduation where President Barack Obama spoke. That pilot ejected safely into a field.
Harry Gill, the town manager in Smyrna just outside Nashville, said Thursday that the Blue Angels pilot was the only casualty and no civilians on the ground were hurt.
The Navy said in a news release that the pilot was beginning to take off during an afternoon practice session for a weekend air show performance when the crash happened.
Five other F/A-18 jets landed safely moments after the crash.
‘My thoughts and prayers go out to the family and friends of the Blue Angels after this tragic loss. I know that the Navy and Marine Corps Team is with me. We will investigate this accident fully and do all we can to prevent similar incidents in the future,’ Adm. John Richardson, the Navy’s top officer, said in a Facebook post. The team is based at Naval Air Station Pensacola in Florida.
Blue Angels crash in South Carolina, Kuss was interviewed about flight safety.
‘We do what’s called like a crawl, walk, run mentality where we start out very basic levels and it progresses and progresses until eventually it’s a flight demonstration in the form of an air show that you can deliver as a safe, homogeneous product all over the country.
‘It’s all going to be relatively similar,’ said Kuss.
In a video the U.S. Navy posted to its YouTube channel, Kuss stood in his flight suit in front of a line of Blue Angels planes and answered a question from a fan about how to become a pilot.
‘I started flying when I was a young kid,’ he said. ‘I always had a love for it, worked really hard through school, went to college and eventually got into the military.
‘I wanted to fly the fastest, meanest thing I could. And that’s why I’m here today, because I was fortunate enough to get to fly the F-18 Hornet. It’s been a great experience every time I strap into it.’
The Blue Angels flight demonstration unit was practicing in Smyrna, Tennessee, for the Great Tennessee Airshow on Saturday and Sunday.
