Blue Angels Crash - 1 Year Later

It was one year ago today that Lt. Cmdr. Kevin J Davis crashed his Blue Angels plane into a South Carolina neighborhood.  At the end of the routine, the F/A-18 Hornet crashed into a neighborhood below, damaging homes and vehicles.  It happened only a few miles away from the air station.  Witnesses say the formation dipped out of sight and that's when the jet crashed.

Tonight NEWS 3's Tristan Tully went back and spoke with one family who was directly impacted by the crash.

Jade Cituk, There When Jet Crashed

"We ran halfway there and they said we had to go back because there was like a big major incident."

Jade Cituk recalls when the Blue Angel plane crashed just blocks away from her.  She was at a friend's house when her mother, Tina got the news.

Tina Cituk, Jade’s Mother

"Slightly panicked but still calm because I knew one of my children was still out here and the other two weren't at home, so it was like ok, where's the one?"

Just 9 years old at the time, Jade was understandably shaken, "I was scared because I didn't know what was going to happen, and I didn't know if I was going to see my family the next day and see if they were ok."

Tina says a year later, the family is still sensitive when talking to Jade about the crash, "My middle child, she still kind of cries about it.  She's very passionate and since she was here, she's just kinda... gets upset."

As for their home, there was jet debris in the yard, and some of their neighbors are still trying to put the pieces together, "There's still a house that still has, you know, plastic on it from, you know, the holds still in it and I don't know if they are going to be replaced or if they're still waiting.

Tina says there hasn't been too many changes since the crash, “The only thing it's really changed for us is that I know more of my neighbors now, they kind of look out for all of us, you know it's kind of like what's going on type of feeling now."

But for Jade, she's still putting the past behind her, "If he didn't pull up, I don't think I would be here today."

Tina also tells us that despite the crash, and the sad loss of Lt. Cmdr. Davis, they are still the same quiet South Carolina neighborhood.