It’s been nine years since Blue Angel No. 6 crashed, killing pilot Jeff Kuss in Smyrna, Tennessee.
U.S. Marine Corps Capt. Jeff Kuss, a native of Durango, Colorado, was a decorated pilot who joined the Blue Angels in 2014.
Prior to the Blue Angels, he served in Afghanistan and had accumulated more than 1,400 flight hours and 175 landings on aircraft carriers.
On June 2, 2016, at the age of 32, Kuss tragically lost his life when his jet crashed during a practice one day before The Great Tennessee Air Show in Smyrna.
A Blue Angel F/A-18C Hornet similar to the jet flown by Captain Kuss and on loan from the National Aviation Museum in Pensacola is on permanent display as part of the Captain Jeff Kuss Memorial.
He is survived by his wife Christina, children Calvin and Sloane, parents Janet and Michael, and brother Eric.
Kuss is memorialized with a public monument at a park across the road from Smyrna airport, near the crash site. Local residents gathered in the park following the tragic crash, holding an impromptu vigil.
The monument features a retired Blue Angel F/A-18 Hornet that is on loan from the National Naval Aviation Museum in Pensacola. The “Freedom Playground” in the surrounding park has a Blue Angels color scheme and several features that were designed with the Blue Angels in mind.
