Thunderbirds to fly at Nellis show

Jace Radke

Thursday, Oct. 9, 2003 | 9:36 a.m.

The Thunderbirds will be back in the air this weekend in Arkansas, and will fly in honor of the U.S. Air Force Air Demonstration Team's 50th anniversary at November's "Aviation Nation" air show at Nellis Air Force Base.

The team had to cancel four scheduled performances after the crash of one of the Thunderbird F-16s on Sept. 14 at Mountain Home Air Force Base in Idaho.

The pilot of the F-16 that crashed ejected safely, but the cause of that crash remains under investigation, said Lt. Col. Richard McSpadden Jr., the commander of the Thunderbirds.

The team passed two recertification flights and will preform this weekend in Fort Smith, Ark. The team will then travel to California, Texas, Louisiana and Florida for shows before returning to Las Vegas for the Nov. 15-16 air show at Nellis.

Instead of the normal six-plane show that the Thunderbirds normally fly the team will fly five-plane shows until the cause of the crash in Idaho can be determined.

The details surrounding the crash are being investigated by a safety board, but the board has not yet released any information, a Nellis spokeswoman said.

About 85,000 spectators were at at Mountain Home Air Force Base's "Gunfighter Skies 2003" air show when the F-16 dove into the ground.

The pilot of the F-16C, Capt. Chris Stricklin, 31, ejected safely and was taken to a medical facility on base, where he was evaluated and released.

The jet was the last of the six to take off as part of a precision-flying demonstration by the Thunderbirds. It climbed straight into the sky, and Stricklin began to take the plane through a "Split S," a maneuver that forces the pilot to barrel roll and then go into a dive mimicking the shape of the letter "S."

While upside-down Stricklin maneuvered the jet into a dive. As the jet continued to dive, it appeared to have an engine failure when the pilot tried to pull up, witnesses said.

Stricklin ejected and parachuted to safety far from the crash site and waved to spectators to indicate he was OK.

Emergency crews rushed to the scene to protect onlookers from possibly dangerous gas fumes and flying debris, from the nearly $23 million plane.