Blue Angels pilot killed in air show crash

BEAUFORT, S.C., April 21 (UPI) -- A jet with the U.S. Navy's Blue Angels precision flight team crashed during an air show Saturday in South Carolina, killing the pilot.

The Navy confirmed that the pilot was dead, The Virginia Pilot reported. The Beaufort County coroner's office said there was one known fatality.

While Navy officials said they would not release the pilot's identity for 24 hours, the Berkshire Eagle in Massachusetts identified him as Lt. Commander Kevin Davis of Pittsfield, Mass. Davis had been with the Blue Angels for two years.

The crash occurred as the six-plane group started its final maneuver, The Beaufort Gazette reported.

Debris from the crash scattered through a residential neighborhood. Police blockaded the area within a mile of the crash and would not let anyone in or out.

Navy officials said the air show at Marine Corps Air Station Beaufort would continue Sunday but without the Blue Angels.