10:56, UK,Friday 03 June 2016
A Blue Angels pilot has been killed after his F/A-18 fighter jet crashed in Tennessee during a practice session.
The US Navy said in a news release that the pilot was beginning to take off when the crash took place in Smyrna, just outside Nashville.
He has been identified by US officials as Marine Captain Jeff Kuss.
According to his official Blue Angels biography, Cpt Kuss joined the elite aerobatics team in 2014 and had accumulated more than 1,400 flight hours.
His grandfather, Dolph Kuss, said being a pilot was his childhood dream.
He said: "It's hard to put into words right now, but it's beautiful that a person can live and die engaged in their life's pursuits.
"This was his dream since he was a child, to be an aviator, a flier."
Admiral John Richardson, the Navy's top officer, posted on Facebook: "My thoughts and prayers go out to the family and friends of the Blue Angels after this tragic loss.
"I know that the Navy and Marine Corps Team is with me.
"We will investigate this accident fully and do all we can to prevent similar incidents."
Five other F/A-18 jets in the Blue Angels team landed safely moments after the crash. No one else was injured.
The team is based at Naval Air Station Pensacola in Florida.
The Blue Angels were scheduled to take part in the Great Tennessee Air Show at the weekend, but will now not participate.
Cpt Kuss was from Durango, Colorado, and was commissioned as a second lieutenant in the Marines in 2006. He had previously served in Afghanistan before joining the Blue Angels.
He is survived by his wife and two children.
It comes after the pilot from the Thunderbirds air demonstration squadron was forced to eject before his fighter jet crashed in Colorado on Thursday.
Major Alex Turner, of Chelmsford, Massachusetts, had just flown over the crowd watching President Obama's commencement address at the US Air Force Academy near Colorado Springs when he was forced to ditch.
He was rescued by helicopter and taken for a face-to-face meeting with Mr Obama.
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