Military.com has obtained a 46-page investigation report into the crash of a U.S. Navy Blue Angels F/A-18 at the Great Tennessee Air Show on Jun. 6. Investigators found that the mishap pilot, Capt. Jeff Kuss, had botched his attempt in executing a split-S maneuver.
WASHINGTON (June 3, 2016) File photo of Captain Jeff Kuss, U.S. Marine Corps. Capt. Kuss died during a practice flight, when the F/A-18C Hornet he was piloting crashed approximately two miles from the runway at the Smyrna, Tenn., Airport, June 2, 2016. (U.S. Navy Photo/Released)
He had executed the split-S at less than 3,200 feet above ground when procedures call for the maneuver to start at 3,500 feet after a vertical climb. Kuss also failed to throttle back from afterburner mode and he had accelerated to 184 knots, 60 knots above the limit.
“The net effect of these deviations was that the aircraft was simply too low and too fast to avoid impacting the ground,” it was written in the report.
Kuss did eject from his aircraft but it was carried out too late.