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Four Crew Members Ejected Safely After Two Navy Jets Crash During Air Show in Idaho

Channel

NTD

Published

May 18, 2026

BS Rank

82.5% percentile (1,254 of 7,171)

BS Score

84.66%

Analysis source

gemini

All four crew members ejected safely after two Navy jets collided and crashed on Sunday during an air show at the Mountain Home Air Force Base in western Idaho, officials said. The collision involved two U.S. Navy EA18-G Growlers from the Electronic Attack Squadron 129 in Whidbey Island, Washington, said Cmdr. Amelia Umayam, spokesperson for Naval Air Forces, U.S. Pacific Fleet. The aircraft were performing an aerial demonstration when the crash happened, Umayam said in a statement. The four crew members from both jets safely ejected and the crash was under investigation, she said. The crew members were in stable condition, base officials said. Nobody at the military base was hurt, said Kim Sykes, marketing director with Silver Wings of Idaho, which helped to plan the air show. “Everyone is safe and I think that’s the most important thing,” Sykes said. The base said in a social media post that it was locked down immediately following the incident. The remainder of the air show was canceled. Videos posted online by spectators showed four parachutes opening in the sky as the aircraft plummet to the ground near the base about 50 miles south of Boise. The EA-18G Growler is a variant of the F/A-18 Super Hornet fighter jet with sophisticated electronic warfare systems. Shane Ogden said he was filming the two jets as they came close together. A video he captured shows the two aircraft appear to make contact and then spin in tandem as the crew members eject and their parachutes open. The planes then fall together, exploding into a fireball upon impact as the crew members drop to the ground nearby. “I was just filming thinking they were going to split apart and that happened and I filmed the rest,” Ogden said in a text message. He said he left soon after the crash because he did not want to get in the way of emergency responders. Organizers said the popular air show that includes flying demonstrations and parachute jumps is a celebration of aviation history and a look at modern military capabilities. The U.S. Air Force Thunderbirds demonstration squadron headlined the show both days. The National Weather Service reported good visibility and winds gusting up to 29 mph around the time of the crash. Aviation safety expert John Cox, who is CEO of Safety Operating Systems, said the pilots who perform at air shows are among the best, but there is little room for error. “Air show flying is demanding. It has very little tolerance,” Cox said. “The people who do it are very good and it’s a small margin for error. I’m glad everybody was able to get out.” This year's Gunfighter Skies event was the first at the base since 2018, when a hang glider died in a crash during an air show performance. In 2003, a Thunderbirds aircraft crashed while attempting a maneuver. The pilot, who was not hurt, was able to steer the plane away from the crowd and eject less than a second before it hit the ground. The air show industry has been working to improve safety for years at the roughly 200 events held each year in the U.S. The last fatal crash at an air show came in 2022 when two vintage military planes collided at an event in Dallas and killed six people. 📺 Watch NTD News 24/7 on cable, broadcast, and streaming: https://www.ntd.com/watch -- 🧶More NTD Programs: https://www.ntd.com/programs?utm_source=YouTube&utm_medium=SocialM -- 🇺🇸 Stay updated with breaking news, special reports, and LIVE COVERAGE on NTD: https://ept.ms/NTDlive_ -- 🔵Sign up for our newsletter to stay informed with NTD News. 👉https://www.ntd.com/newsletter.htm?utm_source=YouTube. If the link is blocked, type in NTD.com manually to sign up. -- 🔵 Watch more: https://www.ntd.com/?utm_source=YouTube&utm_medium=SocialM - 🔵 Watch NTD Original Documentaries: https://vimeo.com/user109504031/vod_pages - 🍀 Support NTD 👉 https://donorbox.org/ntd -- © All Rights Reserved.