The U2 crash took place in Norther California on Tuesday morning near a small mountain range known as Sutter Buttes. The report also claims that the two ejected from their seats when they realized that they were in jeopardy.
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Beale Air Force Base is working closely with the Sutter County Sheriff’s Department to investigate the crash.
The cause of the mishap remains under investigation.
A pilot killed in a military plane crash in California is from Northeast Florida.
“This is unique because its not often that you have an aircraft especially a military aircraft goes down”, said Sutter County Undersheriff Jeff Pierce.
The aircraft was assigned to the 1st Reconnaissance Squadron, part of the 9th Reconnaissance Wing at Beale Air Force Base, where the U-2 fleet is based and its 33 planes are deployed to military detachments around the world. A report from CBS Sacramento claims that a parachute was recovered from the area of the crash.
Initially, the Air Force reported that the pilots had “safely ejected” from the U-2, but just hours later a tweet was published by the air combat command, saying “There is no official confirmation of status of U-2 pilots”, Los Angeles Times reported.
“It’s a somber time but our people are still focused on the mission at hand”, of securing the site and preserving evidence, said Barnes, who offered “heartfelt condolences” to the lost pilot’s family.
The U-2 “Dragon Lady” flies at extremely high altitudes to capture images, radio signals and other information useful to intelligence officers and battlefield commanders.
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The flight was on the routine path before crash Col. Larry Broadwell, the base commander, said and he commit to support family of late pilot and injured pilot. A huge grass fire broke out at the scene of the crash. The same base is use for the T-38 Talon for training aircraft and the RQ-4 Global Hawk, an unmanned surveillance drone. The pilots landed a short distance away.
