Blue Angel crashes; pilot killed; eyewitness reports home caught fire
Published Sat, Apr 21, 2007Witness: ‘It fell straight out of the air”
A Blue Angel crashed Saturday afternoon while performing at an air show at Marine Corps Air Station Beaufort.
Authorities say the pilot was killed in the crash. It appears that the plane struck a tall pine tree and traveled another block before crashing near a heavily populated area off of Laurel Bay Road near Shanklin and Pine Grove roads. Parts of the plane hit several houses, according to witnesses.
Reports indicate that it was Blue Angel No. 6 that crashed. The No. 6 plane is piloted by Lt. Cmdr. Kevin Davis of Pittsfield, Mass.
A mile perimeter was established at the intersection of Shanklin and Pine Grove after the wreck and no one was allowed in or out.
It was not immediately known whether anyone else was hurt in the crash, though witnesses said they saw debris on the ground and at least one home on fire.
Emergency crews at the scene of the crash site called for the coroner about 4:20 p.m., indicating that the pilot was killed in the crash.
The Blue Angel crashed about 30 minutes into the unit’s show at Marine Corps Air Station Beaufort.
Jason Keith, of Yemassee, said he was driving west on Laurel Bay Road when he saw the plane crash behind the Food Lion grocery story, which is south of the road.
“Something caught my eye, and all of a sudden I saw a huge black explosion,” he said. “The plane went down, and we watched it for awhile and I didn’t see any parachute or anything. If he had been 400 yards to his right he would have plowed into the road. The other guys were just flying along.”
Keith said he saw a home catch fire.
Tim Stamps, 18, said he was walking down the road, coming back from Food Lion, when he saw the plane circling in the air and smoking.
He also saw the left side of a house covered in debris and the windows are busted out.
Former County Councilman Mark Generales was in his boat on the Beaufort River at the time of the accident.
Generales said the planes came around Lady’s Island and Beaufort, then swung out toward the air base.
“They looked to be doing an approach,” he said. “They had appeared from the distance to be just above the tree line, and everything appeared to be going fine. All of the sudden, one plane seemed to slow down, and it fell straight out of the air.”
Generales said he didn’t see any smoke and didn’t see an ejection. It appeared the plane “just lost power,” he said.
“The plane just disappeared,” Generales said. “And a couple of seconds later, I saw the smoke.”
Robert Bowden also was in the Beaufort River at the time of the crash. “The angle went wrong on it, he dipped below the trees,” he said. “When he dipped out of my eye site, it was clear he went down and the rest of the formation wasn’t aware of it.”
Bowden said he didn’t see the jet hit anything.
Dave Perkins, lives on Pine Grove Road and saw some of the wreckage from the crash site.
He said parts of the plane were everywhere and said there was a hole in the trailer across the street about 10 feet long and 2 feet wide.
“There was a fire on the telephone pole on Shanklin and Pine Grove, and it was ablaze and parts all along Shanklin, across the street,” Perkins said. “The canopy of the plane was across the street from me on fire.”
He said the incident was “like nothing like I've ever felt before.”
Lt. Cmdr. Kevin Davis
