U.S. Naval officers, on Monday, recognized the 2 crew members who died final week in a Navy jet crash close to Mount Rainier in Washington state, as two 31-year-old aviators from California.
The fighter jet pilots have been recognized as Lt. Cmdr. Lyndsay P. Evans, a Naval Flight Officer, and Lt. Serena N. Wileman, a Naval Aviator.
Evans and Wileman died when their EA-18G Growler jet from the Digital Assault Squadron out of Whidbey Island Naval Air Station crashed on a mountainside east of Mount Rainier on Tuesday afternoon.
The wreckage of the jet was positioned resting about 6,000 ft up in a distant, steep and heavily-wooded space, and till Sunday, the standing of the crew remained a thriller and not using a web site evaluation of the particles space.
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An EA-18G Growler takes off from Naval Air Station Whidbey Island throughout an train in 2016. (Ken Lambert/The Seattle Occasions by way of AP)
Military Particular Forces troopers educated in mountaineering, high-angle rescue, medical and technical communication abilities wanted to navigate the troublesome terrain assisted with efforts to find the lacking crew members as rapidly as doable.
As soon as Evans and Wileman have been positioned on Sunday, efforts switched from search and rescue efforts to restoration operations.
Evans, who hailed from Palmdale, California, made historical past as a part of the first-ever all-female crew to fly over a Tremendous Bowl on Feb. 12, 2023, celebrating 50 years of ladies flying within the Navy, Navy spokesperson Steve Fiebing instructed The Related Press.
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Lt. Commander Lyndsay Evans, a Naval Flight Officer. (U.S. Navy by way of AP)
Ladies first started coming into the U.S. Navy flight faculty in 1973.
“I joined the Navy to serve my nation,” Evans instructed the Los Angeles Occasions in an article concerning the flyover in 2023. “Serving within the Navy means being a part of one thing larger than your self.”
Wileman was commissioned into the Navy in 2018 and joined the “Zapper” squadron based mostly out of Naval Air Station Whidbey Island in 2021. Throughout her profession, she earned the Nationwide Protection Service Medal, Navy Unit Commendation Medal and a Fight Motion Ribbon.
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Lt. Serena Wileman, a Naval Aviator. (U.S. Navy by way of AP)
U.S. Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash., issued an announcement on the deaths of Evans and Wileman.
“I’m heartbroken to study concerning the passing of Lt. Commander Lyndsay Evans and Lt. Serena Wileman,” Murray wrote on X. “I’m so happy with each of those girls’s trailblazing careers—their service has cleared a path for the ladies who will come after them.”
The Navy mentioned the investigation into the reason for the crash is ongoing.
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A U.S. Navy pickup truck is seen in a parking zone close to Pear Butte, Yakima County, Thursday, because the search continues for 2 fighter pilots whose EA-18G Growler jet crashed east of Mount Rainier, Wash. (Nick Wagner/The Seattle Occasions by way of AP)
The EA-18G is a variant of the F/A-18 household of plane, outfitted with a complicated digital warfare suite that’s used for tactical jamming and digital safety, in accordance with the Navy’s web site.Â
The jet was constructed to switch the EA-6B Prowler, and first went into manufacturing in October 2004.
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The jet made its inaugural flight in August 2006, and the primary supply of the plane was made on June 3, 2008, to VAQ 129 at NAS Whidbey Island.
Every aircraft comes with a price ticket of $67 million.
The Related Press contributed to this report.
