One of the Navy’s Advanced Electronic Warfare Jets Has Crashed in Washington

The U.S. Navy is searching for two missing unit members aft their EA-18G Growler pitchy crashed adjacent Mount Rainier connected Tuesday night. According to aboriginal reports from the Navy, the Growler was flying adjacent the upland during a regular grooming formation erstwhile it crashed astatine 3:23 p.m.

“Multiple hunt and rescue assets, including a U.S. Navy MH-60S helicopter, launched from NAS Whidbey Island to find the unit and analyse the clang site. As of 7 p.m. connected Oct. 15, the presumption of the 2 unit members remains unknown,” the Navy said successful a statement.

The crashed Growler was portion of an physics warfare portion and portion of the Electronic Attack Squadron 130 based retired of Naval Air Station Whidbey Island, Washington. Nicknamed the “Zappers,” the squadron had precocious returned from the Red Sea wherever it flew 700 combat missions against the Houthis. The Growler survived hundreds of missions shooting down drones lone to beryllium felled during a grooming ngo backmost home.

The origin of the clang remains chartless and Growlers haven’t gained a estimation for crashing and method problems similar the V-22 Osprey and the F-35 associated onslaught fighter. The Growler clang is the latest successful a agelong enactment of caller aviation mishaps for the U.S. military. Many of the crashes impact caller and technologically precocious craft similar the V-22 and F-35.

The V-22 is simply a tiltrotor craft that tin onshore and instrumentality disconnected similar a chopper and past tilt its rotors to alert similar a plane. Its unsocial plan has caused problems. Last year, the Pentagon grounded its full fleet of V-22s pursuing a high-profile clang successful November that killed 8 airmen. In August of that year, different V-22 crashed successful Australia and killed 3 Marines.

In 2022, a V-22 clang killed 5 Marines successful Glamis, California. In March, 4 Marines died during a NATO grooming workout successful Norway erstwhile the V-22 they were successful crashed. In 2015, 2 Marines died during different mishap involving the V-22.

The F-35, America’s trillion-dollar boondoggle, is besides prone to crashing. In September of 2023, 1 of the precocious combatant jets went missing successful the skies implicit South Carolina. The Pentagon begged the public to assistance find it. The aviator had safely ejected but the pitchy was connected autopilot. The DoD aboriginal found the remains of the happening 2 hours northbound of Charleston.

An F-35 shot itself successful the skies implicit Arizona successful 2021. In 2022, radical filmed an F-35 crashing connected a runway successful Fort Worth, Texas. The aforesaid year, a bundle glitch caused 1 to clang successful Utah. More melodramatic video from an craft bearer successful 2022 leaked online showing 1 clang arsenic it came successful for a landing. In May 2020, an F-35 landed truthful hard connected a runway that it rolled, caught fire, and was completely destroyed.

The database of F-35 and V-22 accidents goes on, that’s conscionable a tiny sampling. The Growler, by contrast, has a beauteous spotless record. In 2018, an Australian Growler burst into flames connected a runway up of a grooming exercise, but that’s the lone high-profile catastrophe involving the jets to date.