The U.S. Navy reports a Blue Angels F/A-18 fighter jet, part of the Navy’s Blue Angels aerial display team, has crashed in Smyrna, Tenn., where the team is scheduled to perform at The Great Tennessee Air Show in Smyrna air show this weekend.
According to a county fire dispatcher, one person has been reported dead.
Larry Farley, Rutherford County fire chief, said his dispatcher was told one person was killed. A U.S. Navy spokesman confirmed about 3:30 p.m., EDT, that a Blue Angel jet was involved in an incident.
A fireball and thick black plume of smoke from the crash could be seen just beyond the runway at Smyrna Airport and from Interstate 24.
The identity of the pilot or injury information was not immediately available. All other Blue Angels aircraft have landed and are on the ground.
This is the second fighter jet crash of the day (see related story) for the military’s elite fighter jet performance teams.
A member of the U.S. Air Force Thunderbirds crashed in Colorado following a flyover for the Air Force Academy graduation where President Barack Obama spoke. That pilot ejected safely into a field.