Las Vegas Sun

April 23, 2024

Air Force Thunderbirds heading back to the sky after crash

Thunderbirds

Pablo Martinez Monsivais / AP

The Air Force Thunderbirds fly in formation during graduation ceremonies at the 2016 class of the U.S. Air Force Academy, Thursday, June 2, 2016, in Colorado Springs, Colo. President Barack Obama delivered the commencement address. A Thunderbirds jet crashed after flyover of academy commencement attended by Obama.

Click to enlarge photo

A U.S. Air Force Thunderbird rests in a field where it crashed following a flyover performance at a commencement for Air Force Academy cadets, south of Colorado Springs, Colo., Thursday, June 2, 2016. The pilot ejected safely from the jet.

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. — The U.S. Air Force Thunderbirds will be back in the air this weekend after a pilot crashed during a flyover at an Air Force Academy graduation in Colorado, grounding the team for two weeks.

The elite performance team says on its Facebook page that it will perform Saturday and Sunday in Ocean City, Maryland. The Thunderbirds are headquartered at Nellis Air Force Base near North Las Vegas.

The team was grounded after Maj. Alex Turner was forced to ditch his plane shortly after flying over the crowd watching President Barack Obama's commencement address June 2 in Colorado Springs. He wasn't seriously injured and later met the president.

The team says Turner is making practice flights. Thunderbird commander Lt. Col. Chris Hammond says he wants to ensure Turner is physically and mentally ready before rejoining the team.

The crash is still being investigated.

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