Two US Navy EA-18G Growlers collided during an aerial demonstration at Mountain Home Air Force Base in western Idaho on Sunday, sending four crew members parachuting safely to the ground and forcing the base into lockdown.
Videos posted online showed four parachutes opening in the sky near the base, about 80 kilometres south of Boise, after the jets from Electronic Attack Squadron 129 in Whidbey Island, Washington, hit each other during the show. All four crew members were in stable condition, and nobody on the base was hurt.
Kim Sykes said, “Everyone is safe and I think that’s the most important thing,” a reaction that matched the relief felt by people watching the air show unfold. Shane Ogden, who captured part of the incident on video, said, “I was just filming thinking they were going to split apart and that happened and I filmed the rest.”
The crash happened during a weekend air show at Mountain Home Air Force Base that featured flying demonstrations and parachute jumps, with the US Air Force Thunderbirds headlining both days. The EA-18G Growler is a version of the F/A-18 Super Hornet fitted with electronic warfare systems, and the collision came as the aircraft were performing a routine aerial demonstration in good weather. The National Weather Service reported clear visibility and winds gusting up to 47km/h around the time of the crash.
Aviation safety expert Jeff Guzzetti said the breakup was unusual, adding, “It’s really striking to see.” He said the jets appeared to strike each other in a way that left them intact and may have helped the crews get out alive, and he added that it “appears to be a pilot issue to me” and “doesn’t look like it was a mechanical malfunction.” Guzzetti also said, “Rendezvousing with another airplane in formation flight is challenging, and it has to be done just right to prevent exactly this kind of thing.”
That leaves the crews alive and the base secure, but it also points to a rare midair collision that investigators will have to untangle from video, weather data and flight procedures. Guzzetti said crews usually do not get a chance to eject in a collision like this, and in this case that may have made the difference.
