A US navy lieutenant died when his fighter jet crashed within the desert in California late final week, army officers mentioned on Sunday night.
The killed pilot, Richard Bullock, was flying his F/A-18 Tremendous Hornet on a coaching mission on Friday afternoon when the plane went down in a distant, unpopulated space close to Trona, an unincorporated Mojave desert group in San Bernardino county, the navy mentioned in an announcement.
Nobody on the bottom was harm, however Bullock died, the navy’s assertion added. The precise reason behind the lethal crash remained underneath investigation on the time Bullock’s identification was launched, and each army and native authorities have been nonetheless working to recuperate his jet at the moment.
“The navy mourns this tragic loss alongside the household, associates and shipmates of Lieutenant Bullock,” the assertion additionally mentioned.
Bullock was a part of Strike Fighter Squadron 113, primarily based at California’s Naval Air Station Lemoore. The air base is about 240 miles north-west of Trona and is dwelling to 16 so-called strike fighter squadrons, its web site says.
Friday’s crash was not less than the fourth involving a navy Tremendous Hornet jet – and second lethal one – on a coaching mission since 2019, in accordance with the Related Press.
The primary of the three earlier crashes, in Loss of life Valley nationwide park, killed the pilot and left seven spectators with debris-related accidents, AP reported. The spectators have been vacationers on an overlook that always attracts aviation lovers inquisitive about seeing army pilots navigating a chasm colloquially referred to as Star Wars Canyon, officers on the time mentioned.
One other Tremendous Hornet from Lemoore crashed in 2020, and this previous October one from Naval Air Station China Lake crashed. Each pilots safely ejected, one close to the Nevada border in Loss of life Valley and the opposite within the Mojave desert, the AP mentioned.
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