PENSACOLA, Fla. — A Navy Blue Angels pilot killed in a crash in a residential area last year apparently became disoriented after failing to properly tense his abdominal muscles to counter the gravitational forces of a high-speed turn, a report says.
The report blamed the April crash on an error by Lt. Cmdr. Kevin Davis, who died when his F/A 18 Hornet went down near a Marine Corps station in Beaufort, S.C. Davis was in his first season flying in formation with the Navy’s elite aerial demonstration team.
“In his final turn to attempt to rendezvous with the other Blues, he put a very fast, high-G turn on the aircraft. A real aggressive turn,” Capt. Jack Hanzlik said Monday.
An investigator reviewing flight data found that as the turn subjected Davis to six times the force of gravity, a temporary decrease in blood flow to his brain likely caused him to become disoriented, the report found.
However, Davis worked to regain control of the plane, “and in the last few seconds he may have been aware of his low altitude and was attempting to save the aircraft,” said the report by Marine Lt. Col. Javier Ball.
The Pensacola-based Blue Angels fly without the G-suits that most fighter pilots wear to avoid blacking out during such maneuvers. The suits inflate and deflate air bladders around the lower body to force blood to the brain and heart.
However, the air bladders can cause a pilot to bump the control stick, so the Blue Angels instead learn to manage the forces by tensing their muscles.
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