A U.S. Navy EA-18G Growler jet crashed during landing Wednesday morning off the coast of San Diego. Both crew members were rescued from the ocean and taken to an area hospital in stable condition. The U.S. Navy and Coast Guard are investigating the incident. The EA-18G Growler is a sophisticated electronic warfare aircraft used by the U.S. Navy.
A U.S. Navy jet crashed Wednesday morning off the coast of San Diego , and the two crew members were rescued from the ocean, authorities with the U.S. Navy said. They were first picked up by a fishing boat called Premiere, then transferred to a nearby Customs and Border Protection vessel. The crew members were taken to an area hospital, according to the San Diego Fire-Rescue Department. They are in stable condition.
The EA-18G Growler assigned to Electronic Attack Squadron (VAQ) 135 crashed while landing. VAQ-135 is based at Naval Air Station Whidbey Island. The Coast Guard has two vessels safeguarding the Growler wreckage in the San Diego Harbor. Further details of the crash weren't immediately available. The EA-18G Growler is similar to the F/A-18F Super Hornet—the type of jet used by the U.S. Navy Blue Angels—and includes sophisticated electronic warfare devices. All Growler squadrons are based at Naval Air Station Whidbey Island, with the exception of one squadron (VAQ-141) stationed at the Marine Corps Air Station in Iwakuni, Japan. Because of the similarities between Growler and Super Hornet jets, the Growler allows for future upgrades and growth. The Growler jets cost about $67 million each and are built by Boeing. The plane seats a pilot in front and an electronics operator behind them. This incident follows a previous crash involving an EA-18G Growler in 2019. When an EA-18G Growler based at Naval Air Station Whidbey Island crashed into a mountainside east of Mount Rainier. Lt. Cmdr. Lyndsay P. Evans and Lt. Serena N. Wileman were on a 'routine training flight' when the jet crashed. Evans and Wileman were 'two highly skilled, combat-decorated aviators who tragically lost their lives during a routine training flight,' Naval Air Station Whidbey Island said in a Facebook post. The Growler test aircraft began production in 2004 and made its first flight in 2006. It wasn't until 2008 that the first production aircraft arrived at Whidbey Island, and the jet wasn't used in combat until 2011. The two-seat Growler was the successor to the four-seat EA-6B Prowler, an aircraft that is no longer operated. The Prowler, which arrived at NASWI in 1971, required one pilot and three electronic counter-measures officers to operate. Boeing said the Growler 'is the most advanced airborne electronic attack platform and is the only one in production today.' The 60.2-foot-long and 16-foot-tall Growler has 44,000 pounds of thrust. The jet has a 44.9-foot wingspan and weighs 33,094 pounds when empty
US Navy Growler Crash San Diego Rescue EA-18G Electronic Warfare
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