Final Flight The Blue Angels Tragedy One Year Later

one year ago the Blue Angels graced the skies of Nashville the Navy's elite flight team building anticipation as they prepared for the great Tennessee airshow they only do so many shows a year and we're pretty lucky to get them but in a split second everything changed [Music] at age 32 Marine Captain Jeff coos husband and father of two was gone it was a magnificent flight and then it turned into a horrible day in the next half-hour the untold stories of how lives intersected that day literally the impact affects you and just I heard it I saw it from those who worked everyone knew the job we had to do and we did it to those who witnessed your stomach drops your heart sinks and those who prayed in the middle of a tragedy I just think on that day I was supposed to be there and I was supposed to respond the moment that brought the city of Smyrna together you know and and over the town of Smyrna over the airport over that entire community and a year later the launch of a memorial to the lasting memory of captain cous this is a news 2 special presentation final flight the Blue Angels tragedy one year later here is news 2 anchor Samantha Fisher good evening I'm Samantha Fisher and a year ago I had the extraordinary experience of riding in Blue Angels jet number seven I reported on what it's like to fly in an f-18 and was part of building excitement ahead of the great Tennessee airshow what none of us could have known was the story was about to change in a dramatic and devastating way and it changed this city tonight will not only take you back but will also show you what's next as Smyrna honors the life and legacy of captain Jeff goose the Navy fighter jet on the back of this truck is arriving in Smyrna on a special mission it will no longer take to the skies but it will honor forever a man who did a man who lost his life one year ago among the crowd gathered today is a special person a former Navy admiral I just have a real closeness with Smyrna and aviation and what this community stands for overseeing flight operations at several naval air stations including Pensacola Admiral Jimmy Taylor has a special love for the Blue Angels back to that phone teens and for our shows with him all over the world it kind of makes my heart flutter a little bit it was there on the beach last year he watched the Blues fly out heading to Tennessee for the airshow in June that was the beginning marked by excitement and anticipation as the Navy's best returned to a place where they are celebrated and embraced the love this town has for the Blue Angels goes back to the 1970s and I always say they don't live here they're not stationed here but they're part of this community Thursday morning June 2nd the Blues are in town for Smyrna it's a sentimental site David chambers started the air show in 1969 so we had we had the Blue Angels the first year principal Clark Harrell watches from his house and it becomes a grand event for the whole city it's a time that literally living here I would sit on my deck and watch a lot of it and the owner of a local restaurant is surprised with a personal visit one day before the air show that I saw some pilots came to my restaurant where their beautiful uniforms and they ate over here and I asked for some pictures from them and they promised me to get me pictures the next day the Blue Angels team would make good on that promise to Shiva Curry me but under unthinkable circumstances the next few hours would change everything the pilots of Jets 5 and 6 have a special relationship they are the ones when you're watching the demonstration the solos are often doing something together by themselves while the rest of the team is out of the picture I like it when they like flying then they go like they're going straight I show them they go like turn they're usually always together list of like twins you know you might see the whole group but when they're apart they're always together just before two o'clock June 2nd the solos are airborne for a media photo flight alongside them as Sean D Tucker a nationally recognized airshow performer one of the few allowed to fly with the Blues I've had the privilege to be an honorary Blue Angel I've been around the team for over 25 years and they are one great big family and within that family lieutenant Ryan Chamberlain number five and captain Jeff goose number six are like brothers close they were like like this because they have to be they have to communicate they're a team they are the rock and rollers they are the fighter pilots fighter pilots and they they so much respected each other they so much loved each other see so much cared about executing with perfection it would be the last time five and six would land their jets together it was a magnificent flight and then it turned into a horrible day preparations for the Great Tennessee airshow begin a year in advance by Wednesday June 1st the wheels are in motion for airport director John black as you know we're all pilots and we live by checklist so we're going down our list and training is a big part of that so we we meet we meet we meet and and Wednesday was it was a great day they showed up and everything you got to ride it it was a great great day - Rutherford County educators Todd Harris and John Ashe and myself take turns in the passenger seat of jet number seven flown by lieutenant Tyler Davies my job is to experience the force of an f-18 and report back but it was also personal my parents came to watch reliving their days in the Navy when my dad flew a four attack jets it's just something you really yeah you really kind of relish yeah it's it's something that's unique something you'll carry with you for your life there's a family connection for coach Todd Harris to who always wanted to be a pilot and that was kind of the dream that as an Air Force brat man I'm gonna be a pilot by the time I was 12 though my eyesight was too bad and I kind of knew okay that dream is gone and but still you know to know that you had family that was working in support of the United States Air Force and military it was just a powerful place and his teaching and coaching role at Stewart's Creek High School Harris works with local military recruiters who nominate him for the honor of flying with the Blues I literally stopped that day when I got the notification I called my dad you know he's retired Air Force he teaches in Texas and I call this a pop hey I'm gonna be flying with the Blue Angels of course you know on the other line you get no way that's awesome and that night it's you know hundreds of notes on Facebook and on Twitter and text and everything man Wow we saw your video and and you kind I caught myself looking at how many views I had to see how many people were watching and so you go to bed that night with just wow I lived today you know there's that thought of man did you really live it today I lived every year the Navy selects three pilots for its f-18 Hornets demonstration team they must be carrier qualified Navy or Marine aviators with at least 1,250 tactical jet flight hours Admiral Jimmy Taylor knows aviation life well I've known probably at least 50% abou angles up through this timeframe and so I feel a close attachment as aviator as a naval aviator you always have a close attachment with you fellow poets particular those you fly with a lot no I've been in combat with or been on and off the ship with in fact when producers set out to capture the Navy combat experience in the movie Top Gun it was Taylor who worked on the script we had so many people trying to get in the Navy and the flight training after Top Gun came out that we had to turn nearly hundreds away and it's those types of movies that not only entertain but often inspire young people to reach great heights for Jeff couse it seems aviation was just in his blood he learned to fly before he even got his driver's license soloing at just 15 years old from Durango Colorado Coos was commissioned as a second lieutenant in the Marines it was there another improbable connection was made his flight instructor a relative of Smyrna mayor Mary Esther read husband's cousin was a flight trainer for the Marines and actually worked with Jeff and he had just posted a picture on Facebook a couple weeks before that and immediately when the crash happened we were talking and I said go back and look at that picture and let's see because at that time we didn't know who the pilot was so it just shows how small the world is in Afghanistan before joining the Blues in 2014 inspiring the next generation to take to the skies these kids and wants these kids not that long ago and interact with them and kids like eight-year-old William Eddings who snapped this picture with cous at the Smoky Mountain air show in Knoxville yeah Jeff ku hey he's number six just a few weeks before Smyrna what was he like a very tall at exactly 153 June 2nd the Sun reflects off the canopy of his jet and it's captured during the media photo shoot on the ground preparations are underway for the Great Tennessee airshow it's just a privilege really to be able to get to do this I mean work with the rock stars of the aviation world Cruz's wife Christina and their two young children are nearing the airport they've been on the road a lot this year driving hundreds of miles just to have weekend's together it's just an opportunity they we knew we would never get again we go to really cool places and be together as a family I'm gonna give it back for the world now in approximately one hour jet number six will go down first thing I heard was the call from the control tower that we have an aircraft down and behind the bowling alley so I knew exactly where it was and I knew what had happened everyone here at the Smyrna Airport knew exactly what to do responding immediately while still in shock coming up you'll hear from the man who had just left work to record the Blue Angels practice and the high school principal who suddenly found himself in the role of military chaplain when final flight the Blue Angels tragedy one year later continues you're watching a new special presentation final flight the Blue Angels tragedy one year later myrna's connection to flight began a long time ago the airport was built in 1941 as an air force base since I grew up office in the runway three and a half miles out here I grew up moved there in 1942 just as this base was coming into operation around at the same time Middle Tennessee State University started an aerospace department now one of the most respected in the nation its graduates have risen to the top of aviation fields it's also where Matthew burns went to study aviation management been a big Blue Angels fan most of my life I've watched him ever since I can remember he's just getting off work June 2nd it's nearly 3 o'clock and he comes here across from the airport to watch the Blues practice with his cell phone recording what Byrnes captures next will shock him and everyone who sees it [Music] [Music] [Music] oh I'm oh my god are you serious oh my god are you kidding me I saw him coming down don't watch it numerous times and I can't even begin to tell you how many times I I watched it just trying to analyze you know what exactly happened you know I actually found part of the manual for the Blue Angels maneuvers trying to figure out you know what happened did he not go to no high enough juice is practicing what's called a split s maneuver in combat pilots use it to get out of Dodge the pilot rolls the aircraft 180 degrees then descends into a half loop the jet levels out in the exact opposite direction at a much lower altitude we're watching him go up he comes back down and we expect them come below the tree line and then come back across the runway but coos doesn't climb high enough and his afterburners are still on at that time I turn around and look and see the damn information so we watched him fly over and whenever we turn back around is when we start seeing the smoke oh my god [Music] nine-one-one is flooded with calls thank you Airport director John Black is in his office actually saw it happen out my window which is you know the worst my worst nightmare during an air show Smyrna emergency management is staged on the tarmac I had taken a couple of pictures of them taking off and after maybe 15 20 pictures turned around like my camera back in my truck and the incident happened oh wow he crashed there are so many emotions you don't really know what to think when the accident happened I was at the airport and you're just stunned you become very introspective you let the professionals take over you're very alone you're very alone first responders search for the plane and the pilot it appears to be close to an apartment complex when I first moved up to Smyrna I actually lived in the week living apartments and so I could see roughly where that might have been and my heart sank you know not not seeing where it had landed during the worst the jet breaks apart in this field between those apartments and the historic Sam Davis house just talking about the general nature of what goes on in the smoke house to a little girl and her grandmother who were onto her and that's when the plane went down I could see coming up from the back of the cotton fields the smoke and the fire and when we finally got to the field I could have recognized anything there was airplane debris everywhere nothing from the sleek blue you know I think that they have is was recognizable to me you start visualizing everything that was going on out here where everything was placed where the wing was laying over here with a the engine was on the back nine there was a wing part of the wing laying right behind you and there was debris covering the this area of here part of the cotton field there's debris up here in these trees it was just everything was covered in debris our communication center our dispatchers boy they were bombarded they and they did an excellent job they had it was 43 9-1-1 calls just on a jet alone after the NTS had been here probably about a good probably about 30 minutes one of the actual Blue Angel pilots came they came out to the site subsequent to that I was started getting the phone calls from the Navy actually the investigative side of the Navy team that was going to come here and start working the the crash site in the incident and trying to understand what happened we lost an aviator that believed so deeply and the Blue Angels mission of inspiring others and representing the Navy Marine Corps our citizens and our great country behind the scenes a local principal gets a call he's about to transition into a role he knows well in you're right the worst surreal that's exactly what it was because when I was on interstate 24 headed to mosques my city my hometown all of a sudden I had to click into what I realized I feel like I'm going to be needed here and that's exactly what happened quickly from the state headquarters and being able to click into I'm no longer Clark and I'm not the principal civilian I've got to get into my military I'm chaplain and I need to go help fellow warriors that are in need just one day before Harrell and all of Stewart's Creek High School were anticipating the weekends Air Show tomorrow with family are you going and also we knew that one of our teachers was going to be involved in one of the flights the the day before the event so it just added to a buzz it's the place to be in area hey I flew it the Blue Angels and I'll point out my phone like ooh you me that's me in the helmet in the plane for both men it is a tragic turn to think that it would go from Desert Storm I served in and during freedom and yet that day it became my hometown and I remember being you know a little after three and in that timeframe and we're getting ready to sit down at the kitchen table and I look at my phone and it just starts to blow up so you have this super duper duper high and it's followed by this just mind-numbing low that still has questions connected to it that that you because you flew you feel an extra special connection not only to lieutenant Davies but to the team it's clear the team will not perform at the weekend's airshow Airport director John Black is faced with a tough decision because the rest of the Blue Angels team was in the next room and we immediately came together and said okay you know what are we gonna do the Blues will not go on and there are considerations Christina coos I knew that she was in route because we obviously take care of all their accommodations and no kind of with all their movements you think more about than anything is the surviving family to stop and think that his wife and two children were just minutes away from the airport itself that's a kicker as it's hard it's hard to swallow still in shock Smyrna gathers to honor captain coos to hand that kind of courage knowing that I've done all I can do and I'm gonna save these people I think that's what he did while nearby at the hotel where the Blue Angels team is staying principal and chaplain Clark Harrell is counseling everyone from the mechanics to the pilots it is a highly confidential process and likely only he and the Navy know exactly what happened if you piece all the stories together you know every detail you know the last word said a jeff by everyone you know the last content and uniquely in my position it's like it's all there and that's what I carry with me I can remember every conversation every deep word and thing that was said and that's something I keep with myself and I don't share with anyone else after the crash a rainbow appears over Smyrna and lots of people see it I got to see the top of it yeah and it you know in the Bible sign from God yeah that day maybe certainly something to hold on to for sure you know and and over the town of Smyrna over the airport over that entire community that was affected and for one person in particular the image is very personal for me it it was Jeff just saying he was with us and I've seen a handful of rainbow scents and they're always when I need a most and I I truly believe that he's in rainbows for me I think that's great that he left that for him in the months that follow smarta continues to honor captain cous and the Blue Angels and you probably had 3,500 people either lining the field in the stadium's they weren't even asked to stand but as a silent drill team began everybody stood there was not a sound I don't remember a single cell phone sound and they watched as these Marines and I know because I talked to their commander they performed that night in honor captain coos and plans for something permanent a memorial that represents how Smyrna feels about the sacrifice of captain cous and all who serve in the military they wanted to see what you see here today we didn't have a clue how to get a Blue Angels they said it would be a three to four year wait I wrote a supporting letter about the blows and what was happening here and the kind of support we'll having the three to four year weight was shortened considerably how many communities can say they have somebody that was over the Blue Angels that lives in their community so we Admiral helped us get the Blue Angel it's a healing moment for many who have longed to express their gratitude to the team as they remember what happened one year ago everybody's been watching it if I talk about wish to also do and now today to see the pride that the community had and so thankful for mayor Reed and the effort that she and the council put forth to make sure this memorial came to fruition it's just wonderful many here have longed to express their gratitude the memorial jet represents a respect for Captain coos and the relationship between Smyrna and the Blues the next day actually saw some of captain Jeff coos co-pilots came over here and they gave me the pictures and they told me that because they brought the pictures because they promised I can probably say there's not a day that goes by that I don't think about it you know I'll pass this spot and a spot where he crashed there every day to and from work there were so many in my city here of a Smyrna and Rutherford County and even that extends to Davis County militancy that just wanted to do something and what I'm glad to say even a year later we have that same spirit and that means a lot not only to me but I know the military personnel and certainly in remembering a warrior that needs to be remembered for his sacrifice for his country and what he's done and for the family and his children that they will know that Jeff will never be forgotten this very jet was in service with the Blue Angels during the 2016 airshow season it was number three and it was in the air the day captain Jeff cous went down now it's painted with the number six for him and will remain in the hangar here at the Smyrna Airport until the memorial is complete as for the great Tennessee airshow it and the Blue Angels will be back in Smyrna I'm Samantha Fisher thanks for watching you

Channel: Caitlin Coffey

Views: 1,711,062

Rating: 4.8038034 out of 5

Keywords:

Id: fGRMVNpoaSk

Length: 26min 44sec (1604 seconds)

Published: Tue Feb 06 2018

Reddit Comments

[u/CSG1_Shogun]

Minor correction... this happened more than two years ago.

Source: I live where it happened and have been to the new memorial.