EA-18G Growler down near MT Rainier WA

[guyfriday]

There hasn't been much about this story that's come out as of now, but since this is in my neck of the woods: .



Navy aircraft crashes near Mount Rainier, condition of crew is unknown | king5.com

WHIDBEY ISLAND STATION, Wash. — A Navy aircraft crashed near Mount Rainier during a routine flight Tuesday afternoon. 
 
According to officials from Naval Air Station Whidbey Island, the flight took off from Oak Harbor and the crash was reported at 3:23 p.m. The U.S. Navy EA-18G Growler, an electronic warfare aircraft, crashed east of Mount Rainier. 
 
The condition of the two crew members onboard is unknown. 
 
NAS Whidbey Island has sent multiple search and rescue assets, including a helicopter, to try to locate the crew and examine the crash site. 
The cause of the crash is currently under investigation. 
 
All EA-18G squadrons are stationed at Whidbey Island, with the exception of one squadron in Iwakuni, Japan.

[UltraBudgie]

Oof. Training flight. Hope they're okay.

[Zaphod58]

They were running the R1355 low level which allows below 1500 feet and over 250 knots. Weather in the area has been spotty as hell the last few days. Clear one minute, totally fogged in the next. Crew didn't survive. They're still saying they don't know if they ejected before the crash, and it happened around 330 yesterday afternoon. Most likely cause is going to be CFIT.

[Zaphod58]

Weather and terrain are hampering recovery efforts. Crews are still looking for the wreckage and crew remains. The fact that it's been over 24 hours without word of the crew means that there's effectively no chance they survived.  Weather around the area is poor, with low cloud cover, and getting crews into the area is proving difficult due to mountainous terrain.

[guyfriday]

Weather and terrain are hampering recovery efforts. Crews are still looking for the wreckage and crew remains. The fact that it's been over 24 hours without word of the crew means that there's effectively no chance they survived.  Weather around the area is poor, with low cloud cover, and getting crews into the area is proving difficult due to mountainous terrain.

Can't they just use drones from Lewis-McCord to search the suspected areas? I know that there are rules for the public in National Forests, but this is a bit different.

[Zaphod58]

Can't they just use drones from Lewis-McCord to search the suspected areas? I know that there are rules for the public in National Forests, but this is a bit different.

They'd have to use small drones, which means they'd have to be close to the crash site already, which is the problem. They can't get into the area. A large drone, like a Global Hawk or Reaper would have the same problems that the P-8As and other aircraft are having with visibility.

Edit- The wreckage was found about 1230 today. Still no word on the crew.

[guyfriday]

Just popping in to provide a few updates. 
Navy crew still missing after spy planes spot Growler crash (taskandpurpose.com)

An Emergency Operations Center has been established on NAS Whidbey Island to coordinate response efforts, and the U.S. Navy is making preparations to deploy personnel to secure aerial search crews located the wreckage of the EA-18G Growler that crashed on Oct. 15. The crash site rests on a mountainside east of Mount Rainier.
 
The search includes EP-3E Aries II aircraft from Fleet Air Reconnaissance Squadron One (VQ-1) and P-8A Poseidon from Patrol Squadron 46 (VP-46). The EP-3E is a signal intelligence platform, tasked to eavesdrop on enemy communications and other electronic spying, while the airliner-sized P-8A conducts anti-submarine missions. Teams from NAS Whidbey Island Search and Rescue and Army helicopters from 4-6 Air Cavalry Squadron from Joint Base Lewis-McChord were also searching.
 
The Navy released no details on how the plane went missing during a “routine training missing” just after 3 p.m. Tuesday. The fighter jet crashed, the Navy said, “east of Mount Rainier,” which sits about halfway between Seattle and Yakima.

and this story:
Special Forces brought in to reach Navy jet crash on Mount Rainier (taskandpurpose.com)

Army Green Berets with specialized mountaineering training were attempting to reach a site on Mount Rainier in Washington where the wreckage of a Navy EA-18G Growler was spotted. The plane went down two days ago on a training flight, the Navy said, and the jet’s 2-man crew remained unaccounted for after rescuers spotted the crash site early Thursday amid bad weather and mountainous terrain.
 
The Whidbey Island-based EA-18G crashed on Oct. 15 during a flight the Navy called a “routine training mission.” Search and rescue flights — which included a Navy spy plane and a submarine hunter — spotted the wreckage in terrain at approximately 6,000 feet in what the Navy said is “a remote, steep and heavily wooded area east of Mount Rainier.”
 
To reach the site, officials have called in soldiers from 1st Special Forces Group at Joint Base Lewis-McChord near Seattle. Those soldiers, the Navy said, have expertise in “high-angle rescue, medical, and technical communication skills necessary to navigate the difficult terrain associated with the Cascade Mountain Range that is inaccessible by other means.”
 
In a statement, Navy officials did not say whether they believed the crew was still alive or at the crash site.

I'll update this thread as more is known.

[guyfriday]

The original source is behind a paywall, so I'm using the Yahoo. News instead.
Navy reaches site where jet crashed near Mount Rainier, continues search for aircrew (yahoo.com)

Fri, October 18, 2024 at 5:55 PM PDT·1 min read

The U.S. Navy, local law enforcement and partner agencies have reached the spot where a Navy aircraft crashed Oct. 15, according to an update at 5 p.m. Friday.
 “Personnel on site are methodically searching an expansive area, evaluating debris and searching for information in the snow-covered, wilderness environment,” a press release from the Navy said. “Finding the aircrew continues to be our primary focus.”

This is the most up to date information I have. I'll post more as more is released. 

and this take on the same data;
Updates | What we know about Navy jet crash east of Mount Rainier | king5.com

Updated: 9:08 PM PDT October 18, 2024
 YAKIMA COUNTY, Wash — The status of two missing crew members aboard a crashed Navy jet have not been confirmed after rescuers reached the remote crash site east of Mount Rainier on Friday. 
 
The U.S. Navy said the site is in a "steep and heavily-wooded area" that is inaccessible by car. 
 
In an update Friday night, the Navy said their personnel, along with local law enforcement and partner agencies, including soldiers from the 1st Special Forces Group at Joint Base Lewis-McChord, reached the location where the Growler crashed on Oct. 15.
 
Personnel on site are searching "an expansive area, evaluating debris and searching for information in the snow-covered" environment, according to an update from the Navy. 
 
"Finding the aircrew continues to be our primary focus," the update reads.
 
A special forces group brought "specialized mountaineering, high-angle rescue, medical, and technical communication skills" that helped them navigate the difficult terrain of the Cascade Mountain Range. 
 
Capt. David Gancy, commander for the Electronic Attack Wing of the U.S. Pacific Fleet said, "Our priority is to locate our two aviators as quickly and as safely as possible."

a friend of mine told me that back in the 90s, an F/A-18 crashed into a hill side near Japan. The recovery team ended up digging into the Earth 20 ft and still didn't recover all the debris. So right now, the crew might have ejected and are somewhere in the woods, or they could still be with the plane. I think it's fair that the US Navy isn't telling things one way or the other in regards to the crew.

[Zaphod58]

If the crew survives, it’s usually announced within a few hours. With them still saying they’re searching for them days later, there was no ejection. They can’t confirm that until ground crews do however.

[Zaphod58]

Ground teams arrived at the crash site yesterday, but are already having to deal with snow covering the area. That’s going to make any recovery difficult at best.