Missing Air Force Airman: Search Continues In Gulf Of Mexico For Man Who Fell During Training Exercise

Rescue efforts are underway in the Gulf of Mexico after an Air Force airman fell from a plane during a training exercise.

The accident occurred Tuesday when members of the 24th Special Operations Wing went out from Hurlburt Field in Okaloosa County, Florida. The airmen deployed on a C-130 aircraft over the Gulf of Mexico for a routine jump exercise. However, an undisclosed accident occurred during the jumps that caused one airman, whose name has not been released, to fall out of the plane to the water below.

Search and rescue efforts began quickly after the accident with Air Force crews working with the Coast Guard, local police, and the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission. The search lasted into the night but had been unsuccessful as of Wednesday morning.

“As of 6 a.m. Wednesday, a search remains underway for an Airman who exited a C-130 aircraft November 5, 2019 over the Gulf of Mexico approximately 4 miles south of Hurlburt Field,” the 24th SOW wrote in an official statement. “The incident is ongoing and under investigation.”

Coast Guard Petty Officer Kamil Zdankowski told the Northwest Florida Daily News the original search area was focused on the area four miles off the coast where the airman was believed to have fallen to. That has since been expanded to encompass up to ten miles farther south after initial search efforts failed to find any trace of him.