Here is what happened to a really great flier, who was not so great a pilot, who was trying to show off for his mom and dad one day. Too bad they got to watch him die in spectacular fashion. You see, Stacy wanted to show his folks what the Tomcat could do, so he thought he would just put on a little airshow for their amusement.

F-14 crashes into neighborhood, kills five

January 29, 1996
Web posted at: 8:45 p.m. EST

NASHVILLE, Tennessee (CNN) -- A Navy F-14 fighter jet crashed into a residential neighborhood moments after takeoff Monday, exploding into flames and killing at least five people.

Flames Police and the mayor's office said those killed were the two crew members and three people on the ground. At least three homes were engulfed in flames.

The plane took off on a training mission from Nashville International Airport shortly before 10 a.m. It crashed moments later about 2.5 miles from the runway which is shared by the Tennessee Air National Guard.

"It took off, went straight up and straight down," said Martha Bradley, a spokeswoman for the airport. Fire Department Lt. Wayne Renardson said it exploded into a "huge ball of flame."

Nashville Mayor Phil Bredesen told reporters at the scene that emergency workers recovered the bodies of the two-man crew. The Navy identified the pilot as Lt. Cmdr. John Stacy Bates, 33, of Chattanooga, Tennessee. The radar intercept officer was identified as Lt. Graham Alden Higgins, 28, of Dover-Foxcroft, Maine.

Two of the people killed on the ground were identified as Elmer Newsom, 66, and his wife Ada, 63 who were in one of the homes destroyed by fire. Another unidentified man was found dead in the Newsom's home.

The bodies were burned beyond recognition according to firefighter James Dean. "One guy was just sitting in his couch. He never had a chance," Dean said.

Local television coverage showed three homes on fire 30 minutes after the plane went down. A plume of black smoke could be seen for miles.

Several people witnessed the plane crash.

Don Isert, who was driving near the airport, said, "It was moving so fast I couldn't even tell what shape it was, and then this huge fireball erupted and the heat came through the glass of my car."

Tammy Burgess, who was driving to a restaurant at the time of the crash, said she saw the plane flying low over homes.

"I saw the plane go down so fast," she said. "In the blink of an eye, it exploded. It was terrible." (More from witness - 260K AIFF sound or 260K WAV sound)

Witnesses in the Luna Heights subdivision told of seeing the plane crash into the roof of a home. They said some houses were demolished.

Plane parts "It just tore the house into shreds," said witness Rick Seele. "There's jet parts all over the place."

In Washington, Navy officials confirmed the plane was an F-14 Navy Tomcat jet, a supersonic, twin-engine fighter, based at Miramar Naval Air Station in San Diego. It had flown into Nashville Sunday to refuel. The F-14 Tomcat is designed to attack enemy aircraft in all weather conditions and at night.