Navy confirms pilot killed in crash during training exercise near Fallon
FALLON — A day after a fighter jet went down during a training exercise in western Nevada, the Navy said late Sunday that the military pilot had been killed in the crash.
It took rescue crews several hours to reach the site of Saturday’s crash on a Navy range training complex east of Naval Air Station Fallon because of a snow storm and mountainous, remote terrain. But there was no immediate word released about the pilot.
U.S. Pacific Fleet said officials determined the pilot’s status on Sunday, according to Naval Air Force spokeswoman Lt. Reagan Lauritzen.
The pilot’s name was being withheld pending notification of next of kin.
The F/A-18C, a U.S. Marine jet on loan to the Naval Strike and Air Warfare Center, went down about 70 miles east of Naval Air Station Fallon, she said.
When crews arriving at the crash site they found that the aircraft was a total loss.
The Navy reported incorrectly on Saturday that the jet was one of its Hornets.
The Navy said that there were no reports of any other injuries or damage as a result of the crash, and the jet was not carrying any weapons or munitions on the training flight.
