Posted on 05/18/2026 6:02:02 AM PDT by V_TWIN
Dramatic video shows the two fighter jets colliding in midair before four parachutes are deployed.
Both aircraft appeared to be flying extremely close together when they collided and seemingly became entangled, hurtling toward the ground as sparks shot off.
The two jets, which appear to be Navy Super Hornet fighters, smashed into the runway with an enormous bang, producing a huge fireball and a cloud of smoke.
Organizers, the Mountain Home Gunfighters, confirmed that the base was on lockdown in a statement posted on social media.
This was the first time the air show had been held in eight years, after the last event in 2018 saw a hang glider pilot die in an accident, reported the Idaho Stateman.
In 2003, a pilot in the Thunderbirds squadron was forced to eject after his plane crashed during the event
(Excerpt) Read more at nypost.com ...
Hmmm, my guess would be that the pilot ejected before his plane crashed.
Airshow crashes happen pretty much ever year... Leading one to believe that airshows are inherently dangerous, because they obviously are.
I remember seeing a father daughter wing-walking show once... The daughter walked the wing of a biplane while the father flew it... They were fantastic and it was an awesome show to watch... Then several years later they were doing an airshow somewhere else... The plane had mechanical problems while the daughter was walking the wing... The plane went down and both the father and daughter were killed... Tragic stuff.
MaxAfterburner noted that the trailing plane rejoining the lead plane did so from ABOVE. So, he/she couldn’t see the other plane. Should always be done from below.
Still, looks like all 4 got out OK, so that’s good.
When I worked on F-4s one of our planes went down in the North Sea. After the crew members ejected safely they sent a case of beer to the Egress Shop.
Same pilot... Sounds like they’ve found the common denominator... This dude should have his pilot license suspended... And this time it should be for good.
And that’s why I don’t go to air shows.
Some people won’t be at the squadron party next year - who signed off on having TWO Growlers playing at an airshow?
These are very scarce, very valuable resources - certainly not anything to risk on air show shennanigans.
I don’t like air shows, and I was an Aviation Ordnanceman in the Navy. When I was stationed at Naval Air Station Fallon NV a d an air show was scheduled, I always requested special liberty for the duration and left town.
Two front line super hornet ECM planes taken out for what? That is like 150 million just in plane cost and its not like we have a boat load of these, no pun, around.
Yep I just heard these weren’t run of the mill every day F-18s, they were the radar jamming EA-18G Growlers.
That tells me that they were in service at the squadron level.
$67,000,000 x2 down the drain.
It’s the cost of having the finest military in the world. Regardless of whether this was a public air show or day to day training, these pilots were getting valuable stick time performing military maneuvers. Accidents happen, it is great that the crews all survived this mishap.
The Growler is the electronic warfare variant of the F/A-18F Super Hornet. The "EA" prefix stands for Electronic Attack, distinguishing it from the F/A (Fighter/Attack) designation of its base airframe. The EA-18G Growler is a critical and relatively rare asset — the Navy has a limited fleet of them, and they're irreplaceable in terms of the electronic warfare mission. Losing two in a peacetime airshow demonstration is a significant blow.
The VAQ-129 is actually the Fleet Replacement Squadron — the training squadron that teaches crews how to fly and operate Growlers. So these weren't just any airshow performers; they were from the unit responsible for producing the Navy's entire pipeline of Growler crews, which makes the loss of the airframes even more consequential.
Formation flying and close-proximity maneuvers at low altitude are inherently high-risk, and when you're doing them with a platform that has a small fleet size and a specialized mission, the calculus looks different than it does with, say, an F-16 from a Viper demo team flying solo.
My son and I visited the Mojave Space Port in 2016 and were lucky enough to have an EA-18G Growler pilot give us a tour of his aircraft and let us sit in it. My son got the front seat, I got the back seat. The pilots were on a "training" mission flying to Denver to have lunch with the pilot's father!
Who the hell put them at risk in an air show?
Obviously someone whose career just took a sharp down turn for being galactically stupid.
ALL AIR SHOWS SHOULD BE BANNED!
There are ZERO good reasons for dangerous air shows.
Static display is the obvious and sensible limit. People can walk up, look at it, maybe talk to a crew member about the mission. That serves every legitimate public affairs purpose without putting the airframe or crew at risk. Just like my son and I talking to the pilot at the Mojave Space Port and getting to sit in the Growler. We learned a lot in that one-on-one about the Growler. Before that visit, I had no idea about the aircraft.
99.9% of people at the air show have no idea that they are seeing an EA-18G Growler, not just an F-18F. They have no idea how the Growler is different or why it is critically important. The main visual differences are minimal:
The fact that doctrine apparently didn't already prohibit using precious EA assets like this reflects an institutional failure. Someone should have written that rule long before yesterday. Now it'll probably get written as a direct result of this accident — which is exactly the wrong way to arrive at an obvious policy.
Two destroyed Growlers and the associated investigation, inquiry, and replacement costs — all of which are enormous — just to have VAQ-129 fly in circles over Idaho for a few minutes. It's indefensible.
I'm still in shock at this. At least the four aviators survived.
100%
“There are ZERO good reasons for dangerous air shows.”
The military uses them as a enlistment tool
“forced to eject after his plane crashed”
Really?
I worked for the DoD directly supporting the Navy warfighter for a long time.....seen my share of air shows and flying “in service” aircraft was pretty common.
However, to best of my knowledge, they always flew alone with no other aircraft in close proximity.
That is to say, the NAS did show off all platforms attached to the base by flying them at the same time BUT, one would perform a flyby, then another and another and on and on but always one at a time.
I certainly don’t remember seeing two active aircraft flying together in an airshow.
I suspect when the dust settles, there’s gonna be some loss of rank for somebody(s).
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