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    Navy plane crashes in Washington near Mount Rainier with 2 people on board

    Mars Posted on

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    The whereabouts of two Navy crew members remain unknown after their fighter jet crashed Tuesday east of Mount Rainier, Washington.

    A US Navy EA-18G Growler was on a routine training flight when it crashed, the Navy said in a statement to USA TODAY. The aircraft, a variant of the F/A-18 Super Hornet, is part of Electronic Attack Squadron 130, known as the “Zappers.”

    A search team, including a US Navy MH-60S helicopter, was launched from Whidbey Island, north of Seattle, to “locate the crew and examine the crash site”, the Navy said in his press release.

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    Crew status remains unknown after Growler crash

    The plane crashed around 3:20 p.m. Pacific Time, the Navy said.

    Search and rescue teams were then dispatched from Whidbey Island, a naval air station in the Pacific Northwest where all of the Navy’s tactical electronic attack squadrons flying the EA-18G Growler are based.

    “As of 7 p.m. on October 15, the status of the two crew members remains unknown,” the Navy said in its statement.

    Efforts continued at 11:30 p.m. Tuesday, according to the Seattle Times.

    The cause of the accident is still under investigation. The identities of the crew members have not been released.

    Naval aircraft are part of the “Zappers” squadron

    The aircraft belongs to Electronic Attack Squadron 130, also known as VAQ-130, based at Whidbey Island. The squadron, the Navy’s oldest electronic warfare squadron, was nicknamed the “Zappers” when it was first commissioned in 1959.

    In July, the squadron returned from a nine-month combat deployment on the aircraft carrier USS Dwight D. Eisenhower in the southern Red Sea, where it executed strikes against Houthi-controlled areas in Yemen , according to the navy.

    The first Growler test aircraft entered production in 2004 and made its first flight in 2006, according to the Navy. Built by Boeing, the unit cost of the plane is $67 million.

    The story has been updated to add new information.

    Eric Lagatta covers the latest news and trends for USA TODAY. Contact him at [email protected]

    Mars
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