Family: Blue Angels pilot killed in crash dreamed of flying

Kuss, 32, was killed Thursday when his Blue Angels jet crashed just after takeoff during a practice flight at the Smyrna Airport. Hancock recalls flying into the same area in Smyrna where Kuss crashed. He and Marine Corps Captain Corrie Mays were on the advance team visiting Peachtree City back on November 13, 2014 in preparation for the 2015 The Great Georgia Air Show, which took place in October 2015.

The other five Blue Angel jets were not involved in the incident and landed safely moments later. The pilots shared the special welcome with their families, as some of the pilots sat with their young children on their laps as they waved to the crowed.

The famous flying team was practicing in anticipation of an air show this weekend.

Cpt Kuss was from Durango, Colorado, and was commissioned as a second lieutenant in the Marines in 2006.

“I remember how nervous I was prior to going up”, Phelps said, “but once I got in the cockpit and he was talking me through everything”.

The crash occurred the same day as another military performance plane, a U.S. Air Force Thunderbird, crashed near Peterson Air Force Base in Colorado after a flyover during a graduation ceremony.

Kuss had wanted to fly since he was a child, relatives said.

Also Friday, the Navy canceled an upcoming Blue Angels performance in Syracuse, N.Y. Cmdr.

“He gave his life and service to his country and the blue Angels their incredible they’re the most highly trained pilots in the Navy and it’s really an unfortunate accident”, Midshipman Eddie Zhang said. He served in Afghanistan before joining the Blue Angels.

The U.S. military and the FAA are investigating the crash.

Last year, Kuss was the narrator for the Blue Angels show in Corpus Christi.

But, Henley will tell you after thousands of flights, what the Blue Angels’ pilots do is mastered and careful. The pilot failed to eject.

The Blue Angels are scheduled to perform at the end of June in the Vero Air Show.

“The center line for the demonstrations is right here over the bar”, owner Mark Rothroc, a 23-year Navy veteran said as he watched the news.