EA-18G Growler electronic warfare aircraft crashes in the United States

16 October, 2024 EA-18G Growler. Photo credits: U.S. Navy

An EA-18G Growler electronic warfare aircraft crashes during a training flight in the United States. The U.S. Naval Institute reported on this.

The crash occurred at 3:20 p.m. Pacific Time during a training flight from Naval Air Station Whidbey Island, the main base for this type of aircraft. The air base is currently home to more than 20 squadrons operating EA-18G aircraft, P-8A Poseidon patrol aircraft, and rescue and anti-submarine helicopters.

The EA-18G Growler aircraft.

Photo credits: U.S. Air Force

Naval Air Station officials said rescue teams began searching for two crew members who may have ejected. MH-60S helicopters have been dispatched to comb the area east of Mount Rainier, where the crash is believed to have occurred.

The EA-18G aircraft was part of a VAQ-130 unit that recently returned for a rotation from the USS Dwight D. Eisenhower aircraft carrier. Eisenhower after a combat deployment in the ocean.

The U.S. Navy operates about 180 EA-18G electronic warfare aircraft, which are the only type of aircraft capable of interfering deep into enemy territory.

Naval Air Station Whidbey Island. Photo credits: Jelson25

In addition, the U.S.

Air Force leases the aircraft for its own operations and training, including simulation of the enemy. Militarnyi previously reported that in September 2024, a Dassault Mirage 2000-5Ei jet fighter crashed in Taiwan during a training flight over the Taiwan Strait. The accident occurred on September 10, 2024, at 20:45 local time during a training flight of a single-seat Mirage 2000-5Ei jet fighter over the sea near the city of Xinzhou.

Due to a sharp loss of speed and altitude, the pilot decided to eject. After a successful landing, he switched on a rescue beacon to alert the Taiwanese Air Force Search and Rescue Service. Taiwanese Mirage 2000-5Ei jet fighters are equipped with British Martin-Baker F10QA ejection seats.

Thanks to the successful ejection, the pilot became the 7728th pilot to be rescued since 1949, when the Martin-Baker company entered the global market for the export of aircraft ejection seats.

Today, these seats are considered to be among the best in the world.