Blue Angel crash in S.C. kills 1

**Buttercup** · 04-21-07, 06:21 PM

Report: Blue Angel crash in S.C. kills 1

By The Associated Press 2 minutes ago

A Navy F-18 Blue Angel plane crashed during an air show Saturday, according to televised reports. The county coroner's office said one person was killed.

Witnesses said the planes were flying in formation during the show at a Marine air base, and then one dropped down below the trees and apparently crashed.

"The next thing I seen was just a big black cloud of smoke," Gerald Popp, who lives nearby, told CNN.

At the Blue Angels command headquarters at Pensacola Naval Air Station the petty officer duty said he "had no comment at this time."

A woman who answered the phone at the county coroner's office said one person died in the crash. It was not immediately clear who it was.

More than 100,000 were expected to attend the air show, and the Blue Angels were the main attraction. The elite aerial-demonstration team, which is based at Pensacola Naval Air Station, recently celebrated its 60th anniversary.

Beaufort is about 35 miles northwest of Hilton Head.

**121Traffic** · 04-21-07, 06:23 PM

**Willowdared** · 04-21-07, 06:46 PM

Sad day for San Diego...the Blue Angels used to be stationed here, and stars of the annual Miramar Air Show.

**TXCharlie** · 04-21-07, 08:10 PM

I saw that on the news this afternoon... How sad.

I've seen them perform many times, and it's hard to imagine how this happened unless they had a mechanical problem. I'm not believing the news reports that the accident was caused by them clipping power lines or trees - They plan those shows out better than that, and those guys are too professional to commit such an error.