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Oscar winner Brie Larson posts tribute to Air Force pilot and Utah Valley grad killed in Thunderbirds crash

Movie star Brie Larson has posted a heartfelt tribute to the U.S. Air Force pilot who was killed when his Thunderbirds jet crashed during a practice aerial maneuver in the Nevada desert this week.

Maj. Stephen Del Bagno, 34, was killed Wednesday when his F-16 Fighting Falcon, known as Thunderbird 4, crashed in the Nevada Test and Firing Range north of Nellis Air Force Base, outside Las Vegas.

Del Bagno was a 2005 graduate of what was then Utah Valley State College in Orem, a former civilian flight instructor and banner tow pilot. And he apparently met Larson, the Academy Award-winning actor, when she visited Nellis to research her role for the superhero movie “Captain Marvel.