NAVAL AIR STATION WHIDBEY ISLAND, Wash. – At 3:23 p.m. PDT, a U.S. Navy EA-18G Growler aircraft from Electronic Attack Squadron (VAQ) 130 crashed east of Mount Rainier during a routine training flight.
Multiple search and rescue assets, including a U.S. Navy MH-60S helicopter, launched from NAS Whidbey Island to locate the crew and examine the crash site.
As of 7 p.m. on Oct. 15, the status of the two crew members remains unknown.
The cause of the crash is under investigation.
More information will be released as it becomes available.
The “Zappers” of VAQ-130 are based at NAS Whidbey Island, and recently completed a combat deployment on USS Dwight D. Eisenhower as the only E/A-18G Growler squadron with Carrier Air Wing (CVW) 3.
The EA-18G Growler is a variant in the F/A-18 family of aircraft that combines the proven F/A-18F Super Hornet platform with a sophisticated electronic warfare suite. All EA-18G squadrons are stationed at NAS Whidbey Island, with the exception of one squadron (VAQ-141) attached to CVW-5, Forward Deployed Naval Force, based at Marine Corps Air Station Iwakuni, Japan.
The U.S. Navy fact file on the EA-18G Growler can be found at the following link:
