Sad indeed.
http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/military/20060119-1355-bn19navyjet.html
SAN DIEGO – A Navy pilot died Wednesday night after his F/A-18C Hornet fighter jet crashed near El Centro during a routine training mission, said a spokesman for Naval Air Forces Pacific.
The aircraft, part of Strike Fighter Squadron 97 (VFA-97), had taken off from Miramar Marine Corps Air Station late in the afternoon, Cmdr. Jack Hanzlik said. It crashed about 7:48 p.m. in farmland five miles north of El Centro Naval Air Facility.
The pilot's name is being withheld until 24 hours after his family is notified. The cause of the crash is to be investigated.
VFA-97 is based at Lemoore Naval Air Station and currently is part of a Marine Corps combined-arms exercise, according to the squadron's Web site. It is preparing for a deployment this spring to Iwakuni, Japan, with Marine Air Group 12.
The last naval air crash in this area took place last July, Hanzlik said, when two F/A-18s from Strike Fighter Squadron 122 collided over China Lake. One of the three pilots died.
http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/military/20060119-1355-bn19navyjet.html
SAN DIEGO – A Navy pilot died Wednesday night after his F/A-18C Hornet fighter jet crashed near El Centro during a routine training mission, said a spokesman for Naval Air Forces Pacific.
The aircraft, part of Strike Fighter Squadron 97 (VFA-97), had taken off from Miramar Marine Corps Air Station late in the afternoon, Cmdr. Jack Hanzlik said. It crashed about 7:48 p.m. in farmland five miles north of El Centro Naval Air Facility.
The pilot's name is being withheld until 24 hours after his family is notified. The cause of the crash is to be investigated.
VFA-97 is based at Lemoore Naval Air Station and currently is part of a Marine Corps combined-arms exercise, according to the squadron's Web site. It is preparing for a deployment this spring to Iwakuni, Japan, with Marine Air Group 12.
The last naval air crash in this area took place last July, Hanzlik said, when two F/A-18s from Strike Fighter Squadron 122 collided over China Lake. One of the three pilots died.
