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Four crew members are safe after two navy jets collided and crashed to the ground on Sunday at an air show at Mountain Home air force base in western Idaho, officials said.
The collision involved two US navy EA-18G Growlers from the Electronic Attack Squadron 129 in Whidbey Island, Washington, said Cmdr Amelia Umayam, a spokesperson for Naval Air Forces, US Pacific Fleet.
The aircraft were performing an aerial demonstration when the crash happened, Umayam said in a statement. She said the four crew members from both jets safely ejected and were being evaluated by medical personnel. The crash was under investigation, she said.
Nobody at the military base was hurt, said Kim Sykes, the 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 Mountain Home air force base said in a social media post that it was locked down following the incident during the gunfighter skies air show. Responders were on the scene and an investigation was under way.
Multiple witnesses reported two planes crashed and videos posted online showed four parachutes opening in the sky as the planes plummeted to the ground near the base about 50 miles (80km) south of Boise.
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.
The Mountain Home police department issued a notice that the air show was canceled and cautioned not to travel to the area.
Organizers say the popular air show that includes flying demonstrations is a celebration of aviation history and a look at modern air force capabilities.
The air show’s official site lists the E/A-18G “Vikings” Growler demo team as one of the scheduled performers.
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.
