Navy pilot Dale Snodgrass, who flew more hours in the F-14 Tomcat than any other pilot, died in a plane crash on July 25 while flying a private aircraft in Lewiston-Nez Perce County, Idaho. Snodgrass attended the Navy Fighter Weapons School program popularly known as Top Gun, where he earned a reputation as a masterful F-14 pilot. He remained highly regarded in the aviation community long after his retirement from the navy in 1999.
Decorated Navy pilot killed in crash
Snodgrass was the first pilot to qualify to fly an F-14 from aircraft carriers without having any prior experience in landing on or taking off from a carrier.
He went on to make more than 1,200 successful landings on aircraft carriers over the course of his 26 year career in the United States Navy.
Throughout that career he developed a reputation as one of the greatest fighter pilots of the era and accumulated more than 4,800 hours of flight time in the F-14.
In Operation Desert Storm Snodgrass commanded 34 missions. In a famous photo from 1988 he was captured in the midst of a maneuver that involved flying vertically alongside the USS America.
Snodgrass later denied rumors that he had been punished for the maneuver, specifying instead that he had been approved in advance as part of a performance for visiting families of the carrier personnel.
After his military career he continued to fly frequently, taking up air show performances and teaching aerobatics and formation flying.
Cause of plane crash still unknown
The crash at the Lewiston-Nez Perce County Regional Airport was a shock to the many admirers he had in the aviation community and his former colleagues were quick to pay tribute to the pilot.
Former NASA astronaut Scott Kelly, who said that he knew Snodgrass and had once flown with him in an F-14, called him a “true legend.”
The crash took place while Snodgrass was flying his privately owned SIAI Marchetti SM1019, an Italian made single-engine aircraft which he had apparently purchased recently.
While taking off the plane apparently stalled while in a steep climb and was then seen spiraling rapidly to the ground before crashing near the runway.
First responders rushed to extinguish the burning aircraft but it was quickly determined that Snodgrass had not survived the crash.
The crash is being investigated and the source of the problem is currently unknown. The 72-year-old Snodgrass was the only person in the plane at the time.
