US Navy Jets Collide at Idaho Air Show
Mountain Home Air Force Base mid-air collision
Two U.S. Navy EA-18G Growler aircraft were involved in a dramatic mid-air collision on Sunday during the Gunfighter Skies Air Show at Mountain Home Air Force Base in Idaho.
The incident occurred shortly after 1:00 PM local time, abruptly halting the event, which had returned to the base for the first time in eight years. Witnesses and video footage captured the moment the two jets made contact during an aerial demonstration, causing them to descend and crash in a plume of black smoke.
Remarkably, all four crew members aboard the two aircraft safely ejected before the jets impacted the ground. Spectators at the scene reported seeing four parachutes deploy successfully, a development that event announcers quickly confirmed to the crowd.
The aircrew members, assigned to Electronic Attack Squadron 129 based in Whidbey Island, Washington, were evaluated by medical personnel and reported to be in stable condition. No injuries were reported on the ground.
Following the collision, the Mountain Home Air Force Base was placed under a temporary lockdown to secure the crash site and facilitate emergency response operations. Organizers canceled all remaining activities for the Sunday show as investigators began the process of determining the cause of the incident.
Aviation safety experts noted that the survival of all crew members was a rare and fortunate outcome for a collision of this nature, potentially attributed to the way the aircraft remained linked during their descent.
