Navy jet crashes north of Nellis

Tuesday, Nov. 9, 2004 | 11:06 a.m.

SUN STAFF AND WIRE REPORTS

A Navy F-18 Hornet crashed this morning about 15 miles north of Nellis Air Force Base.

The pilot ejected from the plane about 9 a.m. and was taken to Mike O'Callaghan Federal Hospital at Nellis, Capt. Maureen Schumann, a base spokeswoman, said. His name and condition were not available this morning.

The crash occurred in a sparsely populated area directly north of the base, Schumann said. No other injuries were reported.

Rescue crews this morning were still looking for the jet, which had been reported missing before the crash, Schumann said.

A team of Air Force investigators and the Air Force Emergency Response Team were brought in this morning to look into what may have caused the crash, she said.

The single-seat jet was based out of the Oceana Naval Air Station in Virginia and was used for training at the Air Force Weapons School, headquartered at Nellis, Schumann said.

Pilots at Nellis this morning were also conducting a series of safety drills in preparation for an air show scheduled at the base this weekend.

The drills included preparing for an Air Force F-15 crashing into the audience seating area, Schumann said.

F-18s were expected to be part of the air show this weekend, although Schumann said the pilot was not expected to fly in the show.

The plane was the second F-18 to crash from Nellis since 2001, when a pilot safely ejected from the jet about 20 miles west of the Nevada Test Site on the Nellis Air Force Range. The Navy unit was on the base as part of a series of Red Flag training exercises.

The crash raised concerns from neighboring ranchers, who worried the crash site was too close to a proposed high-level nuclear waste repository at Yucca Mountain.

In June, an Air Force pilot safely ejected from a jet that crashed during a training mission about 60 miles northeast of the base.

Five people died in a March crash involving another Air Force plane ferrying contractors to a remote part of the Nellis Test Range about 125 miles northwest of the base.