In a video posted late Tuesday on the team’s Facebook page, Lt. Col. Jason Heard also said a Thunderbirds crewman who was in the two-seat F-16D Fighting Falcon jet that overturned after landing Friday was in “great shape.”
RELATED: Thunderbird pilot remains hospitalized, mishap investigation continues
“He’s physically unharmed and he personally lead the launch out of the jets yesterday from Dayton as we resumed our mission back here at Nellis Air Force Base,” Heard said in the video.
Capt. Erik Gonsalves, a pilot of the No. 8 jet and team narrator, and Tech. Sgt. Kenneth Cordova, an aircraft maintainer, were in the jet on a “familiarization flight” when the incident happened about 12:20 p.m. Friday after the jet returned from a nearly two-hour flight. It took first responders about an hour and a half to free Gonsalves and nearly two hours to get Cordova out of the damaged cockpit, authorities said.
Heard has said Gonsalves suffered lacerations and leg injuries in the mishap, but additional information on the extent of the pilot’s injuries has not been released.
RELATED: Dayton Air Show sees drop in attendance
The Air Force has launched an investigation to determine the cause of the accident.The investigation is expected to take several months.
Heard said in the video the team will perform this weekend at the National Cherry Festival in Traverse City, Mich.
About the Author