A military jet crashed near Montgomery Regional Airport in Alabama and left two people dead. According to Montgomery's Emergency Management Agency Director Christina Thornton, the plane was a two-seat T-38 jet.
Military Plance Crash Kills 2
According to an airport official, the military plane was flying from Columbus, Miss., to Tallahassee, Fla. The branch of the military operating the aircraft or the reason for the crash was not immediately clear.
The crash transpired outside Montgomery Regional Airport. The airport is in charge of both military and commercial aircraft, reported New York Post.
Marshall Taggart Jr. of the airport confirmed the incident. It did not affect travel for the airport. No delays at the airport have been confirmed, reported WKRG.
Although Thornton could not confirm whether the victims were military members, the T-38 is used by the Navy and Air Force for training. The Alabama Air National Guard has three main bases across the state situated in Dothan, Birmingham, and Montgomery, reported Diesel Gas Oil.
According to Taggart, the airport's executive director, the crash scene is in a wooded area near but not on the airport's property in the area of Selma Highway and Lamar Road.
The area has houses, including a mobile home park. However, Taggart remarked the jet did not crash into any structures.
Thornton stated military officials based at the same airport had responded to the incident. This is standard procedure. She said, "We train together, we respond together," reported Fox News.
Taggart Jr. described it as a fighter trainer jet. The incident had been reported to the airport at 5:05 PM. This was after the jet went down in a wooded area near Old Lamar Road and U.S. Highway 80. This is around 100 yards from the airport.
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Air Force and National Transportation Safety Board officials did not immediately answer Fox News' appeals for comment.
Taggart remarked the jet was flying from Columbus, Miss. to Tallahassee, Fla., at the time of the accident. Further details were limited. However, WSFA 12 News has witnessed several military personnel arriving on the scene in vehicles that include the U.S. Air Force emblem.
According to the local CBS affiliate, Birmingham NTSB officials are heading to the scene to probe into the crash. Firefighters and the police had responded to the scene.
The incident came less than three weeks following three Idaho Army National Guard pilots killed when their helicopter crashed in bad weather on February 2 during a routine training mission. The pilots had been in a UH-60 Black Hawk helicopter. According to a statement from the National Guard, it was maneuvered down south of Lucky Peak, a park area around 10 miles east of Boise.
WSFA 12 News has also reached out to Columbus Air Force Base to ascertain if the jet is linked to that facility. Appeals have also been made for comment from the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA).
In January, a New York Army National Guard Black Hawk helicopter crashed in a rural area south of Rochester on a routine training mission. This left three Guard members dead. It was not immediately clear what provoked that aircraft to go down.
