Washington: The U.S. Navy was searching in mountainous terrain Wednesday for two crew members who were aboard a fighter jet that crashed in Washington state during a routine training flight.
The Electronic Attack Squadron’s EA-18G Growler aircraft crashed east of Mount Rainier around 3:23 p.m. Tuesday, according to Naval Air Station Whidbey Island. Search teams, including a US Navy MH-60S helicopter, took off from NAS Whidbey Island to try to find the crew and examine the crash site.
Yakima County tribal and local authorities joined Navy searchers as they thoroughly searched an area about 30 miles (48 kilometers) west of Yakima in cloudy weather and low visibility, the Navy said. As of Wednesday morning, the wreckage and crew had not been found, authorities said in a news release.
Navy officials said they did not know whether the two crew members managed to eject before the crash, which remains under investigation.
The EA-18G Growler is similar to the F/A-18F Super Hornet and includes sophisticated electronic warfare devices. Most Growler squadrons are based on Whidbey Island. One squadron is based at Marine Corps Air Station Iwakuni, Japan.
The “Zappers” were recently deployed to the USS Dwight D Eisenhower.
Wednesday’s search took place in rainy, cloudy weather near Mount Rainier, a towering active volcano that is covered in snowfields and glaciers year-round.
The first production Growler was delivered to Whidbey Island in 2008. Over the past 15 years, it has operated around the world supporting major actions, the Navy said. The plane seats a pilot in front and an electronic operator in the back.
“The EA-18G Growler aircraft we fly represents the most advanced technology in airborne electronic attack and represents the Navy’s first line of defense in hostile environments,” the Navy said on its website. Each plane costs around $67 million.
Military aircraft training exercises and trips can be dangerous, sometimes resulting in accidents, injuries and deaths.
In May, an F-35 fighter jet en route from Texas to Edwards Air Force Base near Los Angeles crashed after the pilot stopped to refuel in New Mexico. In that case, the pilot was the only person on board and was taken to a hospital with serious injuries.
Last year, eight service members from the U.S. Air Force Special Operations Command were killed when a CV-22B Osprey aircraft they were flying crashed off the coast of Japan.
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