thedrifter
06-15-08, 08:08 AM
Navy pilot dies in jet collision over Nevada
The Associated Press
Posted : Saturday Jun 14, 2008 7:11:58 EDT
FALLON, Nev. — One pilot was killed but two others parachuted to safety after two Navy fighter jets collided Friday while flying a routine training mission over northern Nevada’s high desert.
Two pilots safely ejected from a two-seater F-5 Tiger and were rescued about 50 miles east of Naval Air Station Fallon, base public affairs officer Zip Upham said. They were reported in stable condition at Banner Churchill Medical Center in Fallon, where they were being treated for minor injuries.
The other pilot of a one-seater F/A-18C Hornet initially was reported as missing after the two aircraft collided about noon near the town of Middlegate, some 110 miles east of Reno, Upham said.
Col. Jeffery Wells, another base spokesman, confirmed Friday night that the third pilot had died. He had been assigned to the “Valions” of Strike Fighter Squadron VFA-15 based at Naval Air Station Oceana, Va.
Names were being withheld pending notification of the pilots’ families, Wells said. The other two pilots were assigned to the “Saints” of Fighter Squadron Composite VFC-13 based at Naval Air Station Fallon.
The cause of the crash was under investigation, he said. Both jets had taken off from the air station in Fallon.
Travis Anderton of Middlegate said he had seen the two jets before the crash.
“Then I heard a crash, looked up and saw them coming out of the sky, falling,” he told the Reno Gazette-Journal. “Then it was smoke and you couldn’t see any more.”
Nevada Highway Patrol spokesman Chuck Allen said some of the planes’ wreckage crashed about a mile from U.S. Highway 50 but he had no other details.
KOLO-TV in Reno aired footage of some wreckage of the F-5 about a mile south of U.S. Highway 50 and wreckage of the F/A-18C about two miles to the north.
The F-5 Tiger is a Vietnam-era fighter aircraft. The F/A-18C Hornet, which was used in Operation Desert Storm, is a fighter-attack aircraft that can carry air-to-air missiles and infrared imaging air-to-ground missiles.
Naval Air Station Fallon, about 60 miles east of Reno, is home to the Navy’s elite Strike and Air Warfare Center. The center was formed in 1996 with the consolidation of the Navy fighter Weapons School known as “Top Gun” and the Carrier Airborne Early Warning Weapons School, or “Top Dome.”
The most recent previous fatal crash involving aircraft from Fallon NAS was in May 2007. Five crew members were killed when their SH-60 Seahawk helicopter crashed during a nighttime training mission in north-central Nevada, about 10 miles west of Austin.
Upham, who has served as base spokesman since 2001, said that crash was the worst in recent memory. Over the previous six years, he said there had been four separate jet and two helicopter crashes, resulting in one death.
Ellie
The Associated Press
Posted : Saturday Jun 14, 2008 7:11:58 EDT
FALLON, Nev. — One pilot was killed but two others parachuted to safety after two Navy fighter jets collided Friday while flying a routine training mission over northern Nevada’s high desert.
Two pilots safely ejected from a two-seater F-5 Tiger and were rescued about 50 miles east of Naval Air Station Fallon, base public affairs officer Zip Upham said. They were reported in stable condition at Banner Churchill Medical Center in Fallon, where they were being treated for minor injuries.
The other pilot of a one-seater F/A-18C Hornet initially was reported as missing after the two aircraft collided about noon near the town of Middlegate, some 110 miles east of Reno, Upham said.
Col. Jeffery Wells, another base spokesman, confirmed Friday night that the third pilot had died. He had been assigned to the “Valions” of Strike Fighter Squadron VFA-15 based at Naval Air Station Oceana, Va.
Names were being withheld pending notification of the pilots’ families, Wells said. The other two pilots were assigned to the “Saints” of Fighter Squadron Composite VFC-13 based at Naval Air Station Fallon.
The cause of the crash was under investigation, he said. Both jets had taken off from the air station in Fallon.
Travis Anderton of Middlegate said he had seen the two jets before the crash.
“Then I heard a crash, looked up and saw them coming out of the sky, falling,” he told the Reno Gazette-Journal. “Then it was smoke and you couldn’t see any more.”
Nevada Highway Patrol spokesman Chuck Allen said some of the planes’ wreckage crashed about a mile from U.S. Highway 50 but he had no other details.
KOLO-TV in Reno aired footage of some wreckage of the F-5 about a mile south of U.S. Highway 50 and wreckage of the F/A-18C about two miles to the north.
The F-5 Tiger is a Vietnam-era fighter aircraft. The F/A-18C Hornet, which was used in Operation Desert Storm, is a fighter-attack aircraft that can carry air-to-air missiles and infrared imaging air-to-ground missiles.
Naval Air Station Fallon, about 60 miles east of Reno, is home to the Navy’s elite Strike and Air Warfare Center. The center was formed in 1996 with the consolidation of the Navy fighter Weapons School known as “Top Gun” and the Carrier Airborne Early Warning Weapons School, or “Top Dome.”
The most recent previous fatal crash involving aircraft from Fallon NAS was in May 2007. Five crew members were killed when their SH-60 Seahawk helicopter crashed during a nighttime training mission in north-central Nevada, about 10 miles west of Austin.
Upham, who has served as base spokesman since 2001, said that crash was the worst in recent memory. Over the previous six years, he said there had been four separate jet and two helicopter crashes, resulting in one death.
Ellie