Social media is now filled with claims of a Blue Angels jet crashing recently in Tennessee that are entirely false. Accompanying the claims are apparently sensationalized videos, which both claim and show are entirely made up.
The footage making the rounds is actually AI-generated and inaccurately refers to a so-called fatal Blue Angels crash in 2025. It actually depicts an actual event that happened almost a decade ago back in 2016 incorrectly repurposed to appear recent.
What Actually Happened?
The footage that was manipulated actually pertains to the deadly crash of Marine Capt. Jeff Kuss, a Blue Angels pilot, while he was taking part in a practice flight on June 2, 2016, in Smyrna, Tennessee. Kuss, 32 years old at the time of his death, was an award-winning Marine, a husband and father of two, and had previously deployed to Afghanistan prior to joining the Navy’s elite demonstration team in 2014.
The U.S. Navy subsequently determined that the crash occurred due to the jet flying too low and too fast. Kuss also did not shut off the afterburners in a timely manner. “Weather conditions and fatigue were contributing causal factors, but ultimately, the mishap was due to pilot error,” Vice Admiral Mike Shoemaker clarified in a statement after the crash.
Even though there was an error, Kuss was celebrated for his service. “Capt. Kuss embodied the best and brightest of Naval Aviation,” Shoemaker had previously stated. “His loss is tragic and felt throughout the Naval Aviation community.”
Rise of AI-Generated Misinformation
This is not the first time that false information has been disseminated through the use of artificial intelligence. As Rolling Stone pointed out last year, there has been a heightened increase in the dissemination of AI-fabricated disinformation otherwise known as ‘AI slop’. These pieces of content often include false images and hyperbolic stories to get clicks and go viral, which help build a broader problem of misinformation on social media.
