Posted on 08/02/2019 10:02:11 AM PDT by robowombat
Navy Declares Pilot in Death Valley Super Hornet Crash Dead
By: Sam LaGrone August 1, 2019 3:35 PM • Updated: August 1, 2019 4:21 PM
An F/A-18E Super Hornet, assigned to Strike Fighter Squadron (VFA) 151, flies over the aircraft carrier USS John C. Stennis (CVN 74) in the Pacific Ocean, Feb. 19, 2019. The John C. Stennis is deployed to the U.S. 7th Fleet area of operations in support of security and stability in the Indo-Pacific region. (U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 3rd Class Grant G. Grady)
The pilot of a single-seat F/A-18E fighter that crashed on Wednesday has been declared dead, Navy officials said Thursday afternoon.
“The Navy has confirmed that the pilot of the F/A-18E Super Hornet that crashed July 31st died in the crash,” spokeswoman Lt. Cmdr. Lydia Bock told USNI News in a statement. “The identity of the pilot will be withheld until 24 hours following notification of next of kin. The Navy mourns the loss of one of our own, and our hearts go out to the family and friends affected by this tragedy.”
The Super Hornet assigned to the “Vigilantes” of Strike Fighter Squadron (VFA) 151, based at Naval Air Station Lemoore, Calif., crashed at about 10 a.m. local time in the so-called “Star Wars Valley” – a popular spot for military aviation photographers in the Death Valley National Park.
A Navy summary of the crash reviewed by USNI News said the aircraft impacted against the side of the canyon wall during low altitude training.
The National Park Service told reporters that seven people suffered minor injuries as a result of the crash.
Eye-witness accounts said the aircraft had run into the canyon wall at high speed, creating a mushroom cloud that could be seen for miles in the surrounding desert. They did not see the pilot eject. Images from the scene show a dark patch on the canyon wall where the fighter is believed to have hit.
Image via KABC-TV showing where a F/A-18E Super Hornet crashed on July 31, 2019, in Death Valley National Park, Calif.
The incident is now under investigation.
VFA-151 is part of Carrier Air Wing 9, which returned to California earlier this year after completing a deployment aboard USS John C. Stennis (CVN-74).
The fighter crash follows a November two-seat Navy F/A-18F Super Hornet crash in the Philippine Sea. Both aviators were recovered safely.
In December, a two-seat Marine F/A-18D Hornet crashed during an aerial refueling operation off the coast of Japan. The Hornet pilot and the five Marines aboard KC-130J refueler were killed.
The following is the complete Navy Aug. 1 statement on the crash.
The Navy has confirmed that the pilot of the F/A-18E Super Hornet that crashed July 31st died in the crash. In accordance with Department of Defense policy, the identity of the pilot will be withheld until 24 hours following notification of next of kin. The Navy mourns the loss of one of our own and our hearts go out to the family and friends affected by this tragedy.
RIP sailor.
With all those amateur photographers out there, I would expect that the crash was filmed.
Sad news. At least this dude died doing something many of us could only dream of. Godspeed.
Go to YouTube and look up ‘Star Wars Canyon’. The pilots know there are people there taking pictures, and some can’t help but show off. I bet that’s the case with this guy.
Best news video of the story I’ve seen. You can see the impact evidence of how the people at the top of the canyon were sprayed with debris.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u-jhNKIHNGM
Hmm...is that confirmation the pilot was in fact an American?
...thanks for the posting...amazing...something happened
that should not have..! interesting in that video that
the lady commentator used the word “shrapnel” as the
cause of those spectators’ injuries.... one dictionary
describes shrapnel thus:
fragments of a bomb, shell, or other object thrown out
by an explosion.
Debris seems to be the better word by far...!!
What a shame. Rest in Peace.
Not sure it was “showing off”...there is another video of what appears to include almost every aircraft we own that does a transit up the canyon...including a C-130, F-35, and even a Beechcraft King Air.
Looks like a training exercise at a location where tourists can get very close.
I recall stopping many times on US Highway 50, just east of Fallon, Nevada and watching navy aircraft doing practice bombing runs...they often are real close to the highway, which sometimes is lined with spectators.
It only takes a fraction of a second of inattention and you are toast.
“Toast,” as in flying into a cumulo-granite cloud?
Yup!
I remember of a story of an F16 pilot who was showing off for his girlfriend and her family on a ‘training flight’ and put the plane into the barn.
Oops.
Never mind the idiot who plowed a B52 into the ground trying to knife edge next to an airfield.
You’d think our pilots would know better, but apparently not.
That is just a baby canyon. My favorite canyon is Falcon canyon in Turkey. We called it Millenium Falcon canyon. Because the odds of successfully navigating the canyon were approximately 3,720 to 1. At least right near the bottom were few dared to go. The WSO would watch the radar altimeter so we didn’t pancake into the far wall in a turn, while I kept the tail as close to the rocks as possible without impact. It would abruptly end so you shot nearly straight up and called the range for entry. Too much fun!
He really smacked into that mountain.
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