Thunderbirds fighter jet crashes
Thunderbirds fighter jet crashes in Colorado Springs after flyover at Air Force Academy graduation
I got a wee heads up from a USA pilot friend anyone confirm what the truth is here?
Received this from a retired fellow Safety Professional, I have to believe what is explained. Sad???
This came from an Air Force person who lives in Colorado Springs. It is still in the rumor stage, but this account of what happens to Thunder Bird # 6 makes sense.
The T-Bird flight took off to the south at Colorado Springs Airport for the show.
The Academy is not even 10 miles north, so Bingo fuel (just enough fuel to safely recover and land) was low.
POTUS spoke for longer than scheduled – some say 45 minutes.
Some guys at Buckley Air Force Base (east of Denver) were listening on the radio and heard # 6 call Joker fuel (a predetermined amount of fuel above Bingo to let the flight lead know a particular aircraft is getting pretty low on fuel). Leader said to not use afterburner for the flyby and continued with the show for another 10-15 minutes. The T-Bird flight lead was apparently not aware of a runway change to landing north at Colorado Springs Airport because they planned a quick return to base for landing to the south. That change required an extended downwind leg and # 6 flamed-out from fuel starvation and went down 20 minutes after his Joker fuel call.
After the pilot ejected, the plane landed in a flat attitude 4 miles south of the runway and there was no explosion or fire, most certainly because there was no longer any fuel left in the tanks.
There is no really good excuse for running out of fuel - even for the T-Birds. Wouldn't be surprised if the Flight Leader has flown his last Air Force flight. This one is uglier than most because of the widespread publicity.