Topgun Crash Kills F/A-18 Pilot

Gemini Sparkle

Key Takeaways:

  • A Marine F/A-18C fighter jet crashed in the Nevada desert during a training flight.
  • The pilot of the single-seat F/A-18, operating with the Naval Strike and Air Warfare Center (Topgun school), was killed.
  • The crash occurred about 70 miles from Naval Air Station Fallon, and the jet was a total loss.
  • The Navy has launched an investigation into the incident.
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The pilot of a Marine F/A-18 operating on a training flight with the Naval Strike and Air Warfare Center in Nevada was killed when his airplane crashed in the desert about 70 miles from Naval Air Station Fallon on Saturday, the Navy said.

The single-seat F/A-18C was a Marine jet on loan to the Topgun training school, the Navy said. When crews arrived at the crash site in rugged terrain in the mountains several hours after the jet went down, they found it was a total loss, according to a military spokesman.

The Navy is investigating the crash.

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