Northrop T-38C Talon Crash At Laughlin 5th In 12 Months, Pilot Dead

Update: 1:30 a.m. EST — The Laughlin Air Force Base confirmed one of the pilots on board the T-38C Talon, which crashed in Texas, had died.
“One pilot is dead, and one was transferred to Val Verde Regional Medical Center when an Air Force T-38C Talon assigned here at Laughlin Air Force Base, Texas, crashed at approximately 7:40 p.m. [8:40 p.m. EST] today on base,” the base said in a Facebook post.

The name of deceased pilot was not released as the next of kin was yet to be informed. The post added the crash site was being investigated by a board of officers and further details about the incident will be available after their evaluation is completed.

Original story

A training Air Force jet crashed at Laughlin Air Force Base, Texas, on Tuesday, the official Facebook page of the base said.

“An Air Force T-38 Talon assigned here at Laughlin Air Force Base, Texas, crashed at approximately 7:40 p.m. today on base. Emergency personnel are on the scene. More information will be provided as it becomes available,” the Facebook post read.

Emergency personnel rushed to investigate the scene following the incident. Further details were not immediately available.

This is not the first instance of an Air Force T-38 Talon jet going down. As many as five jets, including the recent one, have crashed over a period of 12 months. Before Tuesday, the last T-38 Talon to have crashed was in September.

An Air Force T-38C Talon training jet crashed Sept. 11, when it veered off the runway at the 80th Flying Training Wing at Sheppard Air Force Base in Texas. The incident caused a small fire at the site of the crash but there were no fatalities. Two pilots, on board at the time, ejected from their seats before the crash and were admitted at the United Regional Medical Center in Witicha Falls and the Sheppard Clinic in Texas, respectively. Both were reported to be in relatively stable condition after a short while.

The third instance involved a Northrop T-38 Talon training jet from the 71st Flying Training Wing at Vance Air Force Base in Oklahoma, which crashed in a farm, around 50 miles west of Vance Air Force Base in August. The aircraft in that instance too burst into flames. One pilot had ejected from the jet prior to the crash and was tended to by the farm owner till the first responders arrived at the scene. In the same month, the 14th Flying Training Wing at Columbus Air Force Base in Mississippi grounded its T-38s after an ejection seat of one of the jets malfunctioned and injured three contractors.

Back in May, an Air Force T-38C Talon training jet crashed near Columbus Air Force Base, near the border between Lowndes and Monroe Counties, Mississippi. Two pilots successfully ejected from the aircraft and were taken to the hospital. There was no structural damage incurred.

The first Air Force T-38 crashed in November last year, five miles northwest of the base in Del Rio, Texas, killing the pilot. The aircraft belonged to the 87th Flying Training Squadron at Laughlin Air Force Base in Texas, Military Times reported.

According to the Drive, the average age of the Northrop T-38s is approaching 50 years. Although the USAF has announced the aircraft's replacement, new jets will only arrive at the training bases in the next decade.