The Thunderbirds #8 F-16D jet skidded off the runway during landing and flipped on its top today, trapping two people inside the cockpit.
Pilot Capt. Erik Gonsalves and Staff Sgt. Kenneth Cordova were the occupants and were taken to Miami Valley Hospital in good condition, according to the Air Force.
Capt. Erik Gonsalves is the advance pilot/narrator for the U.S. Air Force Air Demonstration Squadron, flying the No. 8 jet, according to an Air Force biography. He entered the Air Force in 2008 as a graduate of the U.S. Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs, Colo., and he is in his first season with the Thunderbirds team.
Cordova has been in the Air Force since 2009, and serves as a tactical aircraft maintainer, according to the Air Force. Some of Cordova’s responsibilities include performing scheduled inspections, functional checks and preventive maintenance on tactical aircraft and aircraft-installed equipment.
The weather was rainy and so the runway was a wet and slippery.
The Thunderbirds cancelled thir performance at Dayton Airshow.
The incident is under investigation.