F-16 jet crashes near commencement ceremony in Colorado Springs

He is okay and spoke after the fact with President Barack Obama, who gave a speech at the ceremony.

The crash involved a jet flown by Maj.

Turner ejected about 15 miles south of the Air Force Academy near Peterson, where Air Force One was waiting to take off. The president met with the pilot shortly after the incident to thank him for his service.

The cause of the crash was not immediately known and the Air Force said it would undertake an investigation.

Turner’s parents say he was chosen to fly with the Thunderbirds in 2015 and was scheduled to fly with the Thunderbirds in Rhode Island later this month. The Thunderbirds have officially canceled their performance at Kirtland Air Force Base this weekend.

Tom Meyvis, a professor of marketing at New York University’s Stern School of Business, said the recruitment argument has merit, especially when potential servicemen and women see the teams at air shows. Alex Turner, who graduated from pilot training at Vance Air Force Base in 2007. The Blue Angels staged at Wallops during the Air Show. Kevin Davis, 32, of the Blue Angels, died when his jet went down during the final minutes of a performance at the Marine Corps Air Station Beaufort in Beaufort, South Carolina The Pittsfield, Massachusetts., native was in his first year flying in formation with the team. Units from Peterson Air Force Base responded to the scene along with local police and fire officials, according to a Tweet.

As of Thursday night at 10:00pm, the F16 jet was still in the field as investigators continue to secure the area and move into recovery mode.

Hammond said the problem happened after Turner put the landing gear down. “I ran outside. Three or four degrees to the left and that jet would have hit our house”. The Thunderbirds have an annual operating budget of $35 million, said Air Force Staff Sgt. Katie Maricle, a spokeswoman for the Air Combat Command.

“I was (deployed) out on an aircraft carrier. I heard a ticking noise that indicated something was still running and I backed off”.

The aerial demonstration teams have crashed dozens of times in their long histories.

Later in the day a F/A-18 aircraft from the US Navy’s Blue Angels aerobatics team crashed as it “was taking off to start the afternoon practice” at the airport in Smyrna, Tennessee, according to a statement from the Naval Air Forces.