A US Air Force pilot was killed in an F-16 fighter jet crash, the 2nd fatal crash in less than a month
- A US Air Force F-16CM fighter jet crashed at Shaw Air Force Base in South Carolina late Tuesday night during a routine training flight.
- The pilot, who is not yet being identified as the service notifies next of kin, was killed.
- The latest crash comes on the heels of five other mishaps, including three serious crashes, involving a number of different US Air Force aircraft in the past two months.
A US Air Force pilot was killed late Tuesday night in a fighter jet crash, the second deadly crash in a little over two weeks.
The F-16CM Fighting Falcon crashed around 11:30 p.m. at Shaw Air Force Base in South Carolina during a routine training mission, base officials said. The pilot died after being taken to Prisma Tuomey Hospital, local news outlet WIS-TV reported.
"I can confirm that the pilot is deceased," 20th Fighter Wing Commander Larry Sullivan said in a statement.
The Air Force is withholding the name of the pilot for 24 hours as it notifies next of kin. "We ask that you respect the family and the squadron's privacy as we complete this process," he said.
Tuesday's "aircraft mishap," as Sullivan characterized it, is currently under investigation.
The latest crash comes on the heels of five other crashes and mishaps, one of which was fatal, across the Air Force within the last two months. The crashes have been in varied locations and have involved five different aviation platforms.
In mid-June, US Air Force pilot 1st Lt. Kenneth "Kage" Allen was killed when his F-15C Eagle from RAF Lackenheath crashed into the sea off the coast of the UK.
Earlier in the month, an F-35A Lightning II Joint Strike Fighter's landing gear unexpectedly collapsed at Hill Air Force Base in Utah, and a C-130H Hercules cargo aircraft slid off the runway at Camp Taji in Iraq.
And in May, there were back-to-back non-fatal crashes involving an F-22 Raptor and an F-35A at Eglin Air Force Base in Florida.
Outside of the Air Force, the US Navy also experienced an aviation mishap last month, when an F/A-18F Super Hornet assigned to the air wing aboard the USS Theodore Roosevelt crashed into the Philippine Sea.