1 week Ago
The EA-18G Growler jet from the Electronic Attack Squadron crashed east of Mount Rainier on Tuesday at about 3:23 p.m., according to the Associated Press, citing Whidbey Island Naval Air Station.
Search teams, including a US Navy MH-60S helicopter, were launched from NAS Whidbey Island to find the crew and examine the crash site. Aerial search crews located the wreckage at about 12:30 p.m.
on Wednesday, according to Mike Welding, the spokesperson for the air station. The crash site was on a mountainside east of Mount Rainier, he said, adding that the status of the crew was unknown, and the Navy plans to deploy search teams into remote areas that are not accessible by motorized vehicles. Navy officials said they didn't know if the two crew members managed to eject before the crash, which remains under investigation.
The search on Wednesday was happening in rainy and cloudy weather near Mount Rainier, a towering active volcano blanketed in snowfields and glaciers year-round. 3266**9417.
