14 DAY TRIAL // A military plane crash in Lincoln County, Washington has left three people on board dead, sources in the Navy confirm.
KREM informed that the aircraft crashed between the towns of Harrington and Odessa on Monday, March 11, at approximately 8:30 a.m.
U.S. Navy Lt. Kakiel identifies the plane as a Navy EA-6B Prowler, its equipment allowing it to perform radar jamming, Sky News clarifies.
The crew was conducting a training mission at the time, having departed from Naval Air Station Whidbey. Navy officials have described the training session as a routine one.
While there is no further information about the nature of the low-level mission or the identities of the victims, their names will be released after their families are contacted.
Witnesses describe the plain nosediving in a farming area, hearing an “incredible boom” and noticing great amounts of smoke at the time of the accident.
“You could see smoke and bits of plane in the middle of the field,” resident HaLee Walter details.
Debris flew over a 2-mile (3.2 km) radius and photos of the site revealed that the collision left the aircraft unrecognizable. The incident prompted the formation of a large crater and has seared the ground around the crash site.
Washington Governor Jay Inslee joins Naval Air Station officials in presenting condolences to the victims' families in a press release.
“Trudi and I send our thoughts and prayers to the families of the Navy aviators who died this morning when their Prowler jet crashed in Eastern Washington.
“The crew of that jet was serving the people of the United States, as so many do from bases in Washington State, and we will be forever indebted to them. I thank them for their service.
“I know all Washingtonians join me in sending condolences to the crew’s families and to their fellow service members whose duty to country often puts them in danger’s way,” he says.