Braxton Taylor
A Navy EA-18G Growler aircraft crashed Tuesday afternoon in Washington state during a training flight, and the status of the two crew members was unknown, according to the Navy.
An update from the Navy on the search, released at 11 a.m. Wednesday Pacific time, said that “neither the crew nor wreckage has been located” and noted that “responders are facing mountainous terrain, cloudy weather, and low visibility as the search is ongoing.”
The Navy said in an earlier statement that the Growler belonged to Electronic Attack Squadron 130 based out of Naval Air Station Whidbey Island in the state. The base scrambled “multiple search and rescue assets, including a U.S. Navy MH-60S helicopter … to locate the crew and examine the crash site,” shortly after the crash.
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Since then, the Navy said that it had tapped two of its own squadrons, Whidbey Island’s search and rescue teams and an Army Air Cavalry squadron from Joint Base Lewis-McChord, as well as Yakima County tribal and local authorities, to search in an area 30 miles west of Yakima, Washington.
The Navy has not identified either of the two crew members aboard the aircraft, but its statements have said the cause of the crash is under investigation and promised “more information will be released as it becomes available.”
Whidbey Island is home to all but one U.S. Navy Growler squadron.
VAQ-130, also known as the “Zappers,” had just returned from a combat deployment on the USS Dwight D. Eisenhower, which was notable for its combat operations against the Houthi rebels in Yemen.
The aircraft carrier, along with its support ships, carried out a slew of strikes and defended themselves against incoming missile attacks as the Houthis attempted to strike merchant ships in the Red Sea.
While the Navy awarded the Eisenhower and six other ship crews combat action ribbons for their work, the Zappers also distinguished themselves as a squadron. After their return home this summer, a Navy statement noted that one of their pilots scored the first air-to-air kill in a Growler in Navy history and they were the first squadron to use an Advanced Anti-Radiation Guided Missile (AARGM) in combat.
The crash appears to be the first major mishap involving a Navy jet this year.
In November, a Navy P-8A maritime patrol aircraft crashed into a coral reef in Hawaii after it overshot the runway at Marine Corps Base Hawaii. None of the nine people on board were injured in that incident.
The Navy’s Safety Command statistics summary for the past year shows that the Growler aircraft was not involved in any of the Navy’s 11 “Class A” flight mishaps.
The Navy defines a “Class A” mishap as any incident that leads to a death or permanent disability for a sailor or results in more than $2.5 million in damages.
Editor’s note: This story has been updated with newly released information by the U.S. Navy on the search efforts.
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