Posted on 10/26/2020 9:18:50 AM PDT by Diana in Wisconsin
The U.S. Navy has identified the two-person crew killed Friday when a training aircraft crashed in a small town outside Mobile, Alabama.
In a news release Sunday, the Navy identified the victims as Navy Lt. Rhiannon Ross, 30, from Wixom, Michigan, and 24-year-old US Coast Guard Ensign Morgan Garrett of Weddington, North Carolina.
Ross was an instructor pilot, the Navy statement said, while Garrett was identified as a student aviator.
Their spirit, friendship, and devotion to their country will not be forgotten, the Navy statement said.
Ross and Garrett took off in a Navy T-6B Texan II trainer aircraft from Naval Air Station Whiting Field in Milton, Florida, on Friday for a routine training flight, the Navy said.
The aircraft crashed around 5 p.m. CT (6 p.m. ET) in a residential area of Foley, Alabama, about 30 miles southeast of Mobile by air and about 45 miles from NAS Whiting Field.
No civilians were injured in the crash, the Navy said Sunday. The incident is under investigation by the Navy and local authorities.
There are 245 T-6Bs based at the Navys two aviation training bases, Naval Air Station Whiting Field, which is located 24 miles northeast of Pensacola, Florida, and Naval Air Station Corpus Christi, Texas. Six additional T-6B aircraft are stationed at the US Navy Test Pilot School in Naval Air Station Patuxent River in Maryland.
On Saturday, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Mark Milley expressed his condolences to Ross and Garretts families, saying in a tweet, Today, we mourn the loss of our two fallen Shipmates who perished in yesterdays T-6B training crash in Foley, AL. Our thoughts and prayers go out to their families and our @USNavy teammates.
One thing that I have noticed when we visit my sister in law that lives next to the training field in Foley is that they don’t fly in anything resembling bad weather.
“Aviation mishaps are often not the result of just one failure...a cumulation of small, non-fatal things happen”
Yep, familiar with that. We called that “the swiss cheese model”
Thanks. When people ask me how retirement is I like to say...EVERY DAY IS SATURDAY!!
Hm. Pretty sure this does have ejection seats...
I checked a few Internet sources, and they all indicate that the T-6B Texan II used by the USN as a trainer does have them, but...I have never seen one in more than passing.
I understand it has seats that use a system to break through the canopy (Like the A-7 I used to work on) instead of jettisoning the canopy.
Anyone know the truth on this?
Women! I knew it.
Thank God they didn’t take any innocent civilians on the ground with them.
I was a an Air Force trainer instructor in the T-37, which was replaced by this plane. At the Pentagon, I worked on procuring the T6 as the replacement for the T-37. I’ve flown in this plane twice, it has an ejection seat. Extremely stable, designed to safely spin upright and inverted; spinning is part of the curriculum.
I don’t follow this plane closely, but the only known double death I know in training was in the T-37, and that one also had two women. The cause was lack of commitment to a decision the instructor made.
“training” = “basis training” = first plane in pilot training.
Well, with the reward there are always risks.
We are not promised tomorrow.
The original T-6 of WWII era fame was a bail out type.
Nice...unless you have always had really, REALLY busy Saturdays...
By the way-great testimonial on your Freep Page...:)
This.
AND...........what’s wrong with both sexes just admitting that women can do some things men can’t do and men can do some things women can’t do.
OH!...........I forgot............common sense died in the past 20 years or so.
Best wishes to both families.
Indeed FRiend.
John 14:6
Romans 10:9-13
A few miles from mine too.
RLTW
Yep, he checked. The newer planes do have ejection seats. Shows how long he has been retired!
A reasonable misunderstanding. Both are called T-6. The newer one is the Texan II the original is the Texan. He might have known that as the SNJ in the navy.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.