Navy jets return 2 years after crash

Some Beaufort homes still not fixed

"I walked right up to him and told him that I wasn’t interested in sticking it to the government," she said. "I just wanted enough money to fix my house." Tiedemann was one of 22 property owners who filed claims with the Navy after an April 21, 2007, crash that killed Blue Angels pilot Lt. Cmdr. Kevin Davis as he performed in the Beaufort Air Show.

The Blue Angels, formally called the Navy Flight Demonstration Squadron, return to Beaufort next week for the 2009 Air Show.

In addition to killing Davis, the crash injured eight people on the ground and damaged dozens of homes near the intersection of Shanklin and Pine Grove roads.

Jennifer Zeldis, spokeswoman for the Office of the Judge Advocate General of the Navy, said the Navy received 22 claims totaling $1.8 million in losses. Of those, 20 claims have been settled for more than $442,000, she said.

According to a 700-page report on the crash released in January 2008, claims ranged from thousands of dollars in property damage, to those who said they were injured running from falling debris, to a man who said he lost his bifocals searching for Davis’ body.

The Navy did not deny any of the claims filed, Zeldis said, and the claimants generally receive the amount requested. The two outstanding claims likely will make up the difference between the amounts requested and paid out, she said.

Not everyone has been compensated by the Navy for their losses, though. George and Shirley Smith’s Pine Grove Road home was declared uninhabitable after the jet’s landing gear crashed through their roof and other debris left a large gash across the front of their home.

"The Navy hasn’t done anything for us yet," George Smith said. "I’m not even sure the Navy knows that we can’t live in that house."

Zeldis said the JAG couldn’t comment on individual claims but added the Navy remains committed "to ensuring these residents are compensated in a fair and timely manner."

Tiedemann said she couldn’t help but reflect on what happened the last time the squadron was in town.

She had just gone inside after watching the Blues Angels’ performance from her front steps when she heard a noise she’d never heard before.

"I had just sat down in my recliner, and maybe two minutes later, I heard this really loud noise," she said. "We live so close to [the air station] so you hear jets all the time, but it was nothing like this. Next thing I know, all of this stuff is hitting the top of my house. Pieces of the jet were everywhere. It knocked the chimney clean off the top of my house." Navy investigators concluded that Davis, the pilot, became disoriented during a sharp turn.

In the performance’s last maneuver, Davis was trailing the other pilots and accelerated to more than 425 mph. The sudden force caused him to lose awareness of his speed and altitude, investigators said.

Investigators say Davis never lost consciousness and likely steered the jet in its final moments to avoid hitting homes.

Tiedemann said many of her neighbors have returned to their homes, and are a little nervous about next weekend’s air show. "I was a nervous wreck when I first heard they were coming back," she said