PDA

View Full Version : Developing Story: Navy aircraft crashes in Oregon



thedrifter
03-03-06, 03:47 PM
Developing Story: Navy aircraft crashes in Oregon
KXLY.com Staff
Last updated: Friday, March 03rd, 2006 01:14:48 PM

PENDLETON, ORE. -- Umatilla County emergency services reports that a plane from Whidbey Island Naval Air Station has gone down in the county.

Public information officer Pete Wells in Pendleton says witnesses saw four parachutes. A dispatcher with the Umatilla County sheriff's office said first word from the scene was that four people aboard survived without serious injury.

The crash occurred at 11:28 in the northern part of Umatilla County.

Whidbey Island Naval Air Station is home to the US Pacific Fleet's Electronic Attack Wing Pacific, which includes 14 squadrons of the Navy's EA-6B Prowler Electronic Warfare aircraft, which carry a 4-man crew.

According to the Defense watchdog website Globalsecurity.org, EA-6B Prowler jets from Whidbey Island use the Boardman Bombing Range, which was decommisioned in 2000, for low-level training flights. The Boardman Bombing Range is west of the Umatilla Chemical Depot in neighboring Morrow County.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

GlobalSecurity.org
The EA-6B Prowler is the US Navy's Electronic Warfare aircraft. 14 squadrons of these planes are stationed at Whidbey Island Naval Air Station in Washington State.

Ellie

yellowwing
03-03-06, 05:07 PM
Whidbey Prowler crashes in Oregon
All 4 on board reportedly parachute to safety
BY JIM HALEY
Herald Writer (http://www.heraldnet.com/stories/06/03/03/100loc_crashdoc.cfm)


PENDLETON, Ore. - A Whidbey Island Naval Air Station jet crashed during a training mission late this morning, and all four crew members survived, officials said.

Four parachutes were seen opening, said Cheryl Seigal, spokeswoman for the Umatilla County Emergency Management.

The EA-6B Prowler carries a flight crew of up to four. The four reportedly were taken to a hospital in Pendleton.

The radar-jamming jets frequently make training missions to Oregon, often to a practice bombing range near Boardman, Ore. The crash occurred about 25 miles east of the bombing range in a remote area about 10 miles south of the Columbia River, Seigal said.

Two military planes were in the area at the time of the crash, she said.

The EA-6B prowler is a radar-jamming jet used by U. S. air forces to confuse or disable ground missile sites. The jets also have the capability of firing missiles at ground radar installations.

Static_Sky25
03-03-06, 09:53 PM
I'll update with what the news says when they upload it to their webpage....

Static_Sky25
03-03-06, 10:05 PM
http://www.kndu.com/article.src?ID=39914&V=&Type=News&0440909c1d

p.s. in the little map... I live where the "B" in benton is.....

yellowwing
03-03-06, 10:37 PM
$52,000,000 a piece for these bad boys! Worth every dime.

This one is even 'pimped out' with gold tone windscreens! :banana: