Blue Angels Cancel Show After Jets Collide; Will Continue to Perform

The Navy Blue Angels precision flying team canceled an air show here Sunday and flew back to their base after two jets collided and plummeted to earth, killing one pilot in a fiery crash witnessed by 22,000 spectators.

At the team’s Pensacola, Fla., base, Lt. Cmdr. Doug Schamp said the team would continue the rest of its 40-show performance schedule this season, but might cancel an air show planned for the coming weekend in Dayton, Ohio. He said officials did not know what went wrong in Saturday’s accident.

“There is a lot of camaraderie, extreme deep friendships are developed--it’s a family,” Schamp said. “To live that closely with someone and work with them 300 days a year, it’s like losing a member of your family.”

Lt. Cmdr. Mike Gershon, who died in the crash, apparently did not eject from his plane after the collision, while the second pilot, Lt. Andy Caputi, parachuted to safety, officials said. Caputi received minor injuries and was treated at a hospital and released.

Six A-4 Skyhawk jets were in the air when the two collided.