The 1985 Niagara Falls Blue Angels Disaster As Described By Pilot Pat Walsh
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- Опубликовано: 9 фев 2025
- In this clip from episode #051 of Lessons From The Front, Admiral Pat Walsh describes what happened the day Lieut. Comdr. Mike Gershon was killed in a midair collision at an airshow in Niagara Falls, NY.
To hear Admiral Walsh's full podcast, click here: • Lessons From The Front...
From Niagara Falls, but was a Navy Hospital Corpsman stationed at the Medical Clinic on NAS Pensacola, home base of the Blue Angels at the time, and the mood around the Base was depressed at the time.
Later that year the Blue Angels had a Change Of Command Ceremony at the National Naval Aviation Museum on Base, and I was the Corpsman on Medical Standby.
Also in attendance were the Air Force Thunderbirds, the Army's Golden Knights Parachute Team and Canada's Flight Demonstration Team the Snowbirds.
During the Ceremony they held a moving Memorial for the pilot who was killed during the Air Show.
Being from Niagara Falls it was very moving to me.
Thank you for your service! #CarryTheLoad 🇺🇸🙏
Navy pilots use such great logic in accident investigations, no egos, no boasting. They look at why mistakes were made, the human factors. WOW! Wish all services, agencies and airlines were this realistic.
We are grateful for their skill and service.
My brother and I were at that airshow. I was a weather observer at the airport. We still can see it happening, hear the thump when they hit, and see Caputi's seat come out. Gershon wasn't as lucky.
#alwaysremember 🇺🇸
I had dinner with both 5 and 6 during their winter training in El Centro prior to the "85 season. Both guys discussed how they were training hard to reduce separation during their maneuvers. They weren't trying to just make it look close from the flight line - they were striving to actually make it very close. Any Blue Angel demo team pilot would have been doing the same.
We can only imagine the mix of emotions you felt that day. Thank you for sharing your story with us.
the crowd cannot tell how close...............so don't screw up.
I know the number 5 pilot and hearing his story tears me up every time. He should not have survived. It is a terrible tragedy.
How’s Andy doing? I heard when he left Delta, he went and flew corporate
I was there. I was 10 years old. Still have nightmares about plane crashes every now and then. So sad that the pilot lost his life. Very interesting video about what happened and how to prevent this in the future.
Thanks Pat. Only meet Mike once. Used to hang with Andy back in the Training command. And your right about complacency. I saw it in Low Level ACM in VA195 and even saw it in the airlines. It’s always something you have to fight. Thanks for being a great guy. Probably the most humble Naval Academy guy I knew
I saw this crash...was having an ice cream at Dairy Queen watching the show.
Wow, witnessing that must have been truly unforgettable. Thank you for sharing with us.
I was there too. I still frequent the Dairy Queen you were watching the show from.
I was 6 and at this event
I was 10 and witnessed this as well.
We were there.
Thank you for your service! 🇺🇸🙏
I grew up in the flight line of that air base. I just got out of the shower and looked out the bathroom window the instant it happened.
Wow. That is something you will never forget 🙏🇺🇸
I think at this point there shouldn't be a jet #6. Jet #6 was involved in a crash in 1970 where the pilot forgot to put the landing gear down, this crash in 1985 was jet #6, Kevin Davis was in jet #6 when he was killed in on April 21st 2007 and the crash that killed Jess Kuss on June 2, 2016 was also jet #6.
Jet #6 didn't cause the crash in any of those examples. The pilot in #6 did. Apparently you did not listen to what Admiral Walsh was saying.
@@deans178Jet #6 is jinxed regardless if it's pilot error or the plane itself.
@@amiedavis5257
lol
Is that your expert opinion on the matter?
SMH
@@kaypie3112 I sure as hell wouldn't want to fly it or get in it. There's plenty of superstitious pilots out there that I know are the same way.
@@amiedavis5257 lol, okay.
I recovered one of the shoes - sold on Ebay for $175.
Wow! That’s amazing.
Hope we're not trying to "blame the dead guy" on this one for complacency or negligence. The solo pilots fly on the razor's edge.
This was 1985. Over and done with. Let's not cast a useless shadow on the ability of these two fine pilots. It serves no purpose.