“I can tell you this is a somber time, but our team is very focused on the mission at hand”, said Col. Danielle Barnes, of the 9th Reconnaissance Wing at Beale Air Force base.
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One pilot died and another one was injured when an Air Force Lockheed U-2 spy plane crashed shortly after taking off in northern California Tuesday, according to the US Airforce. “One pilot is confirmed deceased, while the other sustained injuries”, Beale Air Force Base said in a press release.
“The incident is now under investigation”, said the statement from the Air Force’s 9th Reconnaissance Wing.
The aircraft was allot to 1st Reconnaissance Squadron it crashed in the Sutter Buttes, a mountain range about 60 miles (97 kilometers) north of Sacramento.
No details were provided on the pilots’ location or how long it took to get to them.
The pilots, participating in a training mission, ejected from the aircraft before it plunged into grassy hills in Sutter County. She said she could not discuss what caused the plane to crash or Eadie’s death.
Initially, the Air Force and the Beale Air Force Base said that two pilots had ejected the plane.
The Air Force completed its initial response to the crash around 4 p.m. Tuesday.
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.
Military officials stated that the U-2 spy plane crashed a few minutes after take-off from the Beale Airforce Base at around 9 am.
The glider-like U-2, part of the 1st Reconnaissance Squadron based at Beale, came down…
Barnes says military investigators are looking into the cause of the crash, but there’s no timeline for them to conclude their probe.
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The U-2 is slated for retirement in 2019 as the military relies increasingly on unmanned aircraft such as the RQ-4 Global Hawk for intelligence gathering, though senior USA lawmakers from California are pressuring the Air Force to delay the retirement.
