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| A VFA-122 F/A-18F Super Hornet at the 2007 MCAS Miramar Airshow. Photo by Sean Cameron |
Written by
DAVID CASTELLON
dcastell@visalia.gannett.com
dcastell@visalia.gannett.com
Below is the text of three-minute statement made by the commanding officer of Naval Air Station Lemoore following Wednesday’s crash. He did not take questions from the press.
Good afternoon, I’m Capt. James Knapp ... I’m the commanding officer of Naval Air Station, Lemoore, Calif.
[At] approximately 12:08 local, Pacific Standard Time this afternoon, an F-18 foxtrot model aircraft assigned to Strike Fighter Squadron 122, which is the fleet replacement squadron located at Naval Air Station Lemoore, aircraft went down, and crashed, approximately one half mile to the west of Naval Air Station Lemoore’s property line, on private property, a farm in Fresno County.
The F-18 F model is a two-seat Strike Fighter made by Boeing aircraft company. It’s the newest Strike Fighter in the Navy’s inventory. It’s flown, again, by a crew of two, a pilot and a weapon system operator.
The cause of the mishap is under investigation. I can say there was no damage at the crash site to civilian property or personnel.
However, I can confirm that there were two fatalities. The pilot and the weapon system operator attached to Strike Fighter Squadron 122 perished in the mishap.
Names will not be released until the notification of next of kin has been completed.
The aircraft was a single-aircraft mission on a routine training flight originating from Naval Air Station Lemoore and ending at Naval Air Station Lemoore.
Over the course of the next month, safety investigators from the Naval Safety Center and Strike Fighter Squadron 122 will conduct an investigation of the mishap site and the components that they are able to recover from the mishap crash site to determine the cause of the mishap and make recommendations to higher headquarters in the Navy on how to prevent future mishaps.
That’s all I have at this time. I thank you very much for your patience. I ask that you have your thoughts and prayers for the family, the friends and shipmates of these two fine Naval officers and that you remember that they represent the very best of this nation. Thank you very much.
Good afternoon, I’m Capt. James Knapp ... I’m the commanding officer of Naval Air Station, Lemoore, Calif.
[At] approximately 12:08 local, Pacific Standard Time this afternoon, an F-18 foxtrot model aircraft assigned to Strike Fighter Squadron 122, which is the fleet replacement squadron located at Naval Air Station Lemoore, aircraft went down, and crashed, approximately one half mile to the west of Naval Air Station Lemoore’s property line, on private property, a farm in Fresno County.
The F-18 F model is a two-seat Strike Fighter made by Boeing aircraft company. It’s the newest Strike Fighter in the Navy’s inventory. It’s flown, again, by a crew of two, a pilot and a weapon system operator.
The cause of the mishap is under investigation. I can say there was no damage at the crash site to civilian property or personnel.
However, I can confirm that there were two fatalities. The pilot and the weapon system operator attached to Strike Fighter Squadron 122 perished in the mishap.
Names will not be released until the notification of next of kin has been completed.
The aircraft was a single-aircraft mission on a routine training flight originating from Naval Air Station Lemoore and ending at Naval Air Station Lemoore.
Over the course of the next month, safety investigators from the Naval Safety Center and Strike Fighter Squadron 122 will conduct an investigation of the mishap site and the components that they are able to recover from the mishap crash site to determine the cause of the mishap and make recommendations to higher headquarters in the Navy on how to prevent future mishaps.
That’s all I have at this time. I thank you very much for your patience. I ask that you have your thoughts and prayers for the family, the friends and shipmates of these two fine Naval officers and that you remember that they represent the very best of this nation. Thank you very much.
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