US Air Force jet crashes after two pilots eject after training world | news
Two pilots ejected safely from a U.S. Air Force T-38 Talon II aircraft during a training flight on Tuesday, according to a statement from Columbus Air Force Base.
The plane crashed in a wooded area of Lamar County, Alabama, near the Mississippi border.
ABC reporter Austin Pratt, who was at the scene, said both pilots went to a medical facility and medical staff evaluated them.
The base statement said: “A safety investigation board will investigate the cause of the accident, which is currently unknown.”
Columbus Air Force Base is home to the 14th Flying Training Wing of the Air Education and Training Command’s 19th Air Force.
The wing’s mission focuses on specialised graduate pilot training in the T-6 Texan II, T-38C Talon and T-1A Jayhawk aircraft.
The incident follows a daring US rescue operation to recover the crew of downed F-15E Strike Eagle “Dude 44” in rugged terrain in southwestern Iran.
After the plane is attacked by a shoulder-fired missile, the pilot and weapons systems officer are forced to flee into hostile territory, beginning a mission to bring them home before they are captured by Iranian forces.
In this high-risk operation, US Special Operations Forces and CIA operators worked together to locate the airmen in the mountains of Isfahan Province.
While the pilot was immediately captured, the weapons systems officer spent a harrowing 24 hours escaping capture in a mountain crevice before being ejected under heavy fire.
