The Navy has launched the names of two sailors killed in separate incidents — a downed fighter jet and a van crash on the freeway — in southern California over the previous few days.
Lt. Richard Bullock, who was assigned to Strike Fighter Squadron (VFA) 113, died late Friday when his F/A-18E Tremendous Hornet jet crashed close to Trona, California, about 250 miles away from Naval Air Station Lemoore, the place he was based mostly, the service mentioned in an up to date assertion Sunday.
The Navy additionally mentioned Sunday that 29-year-old Electronics Technician 2nd Class John Deltoro was killed in a car crash whereas coming back from coaching at Camp Billy Machen in Niland round 10 p.m. Friday. The crash concerned Deltoro and 5 different sailors, who have been all a part of a West Coast-based Naval Particular Warfare unit, based on the Navy.
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Two different sailors have been in crucial situation, and two have been in secure situation, at native hospitals following the freeway mishap.
The California Freeway Patrol, which is investigating the accident together with the Navy, mentioned the 5 sailors — 4 males and one girl — have been driving a Chevrolet Categorical van west on a freeway that results in San Diego when “for causes nonetheless underneath investigation, the Chevrolet traveled off the north facet of the roadway.”
“The Chevrolet traveled down a mud embankment and struck a big boulder,” the Freeway Patrol press launch mentioned. The usage of seat belts and the positions of the passengers was being investigated, however it didn’t seem that alcohol or medicine have been elements.
Deltoro was the center rear passenger, based on the police launch. Citing privateness considerations, the Navy didn’t establish the opposite sailors concerned.
“John was one among our greatest fight assist technicians, enabling our pressure to conduct extremely advanced and high-risk missions within the nation’s protection,” Rear Adm. H.W. Howard III, head of Naval Particular Warfare Command, mentioned in a press release Sunday.
Capt. David Abernathy, commander of Naval Particular Warfare Group 1, added that the unit “will stay in assist of John’s household and can always remember his dedication to selfless service.”
Deltoro was an Augusta, Georgia, native and joined the Navy in 2012, based on the service. He’s the second Naval Particular Warfare sailor to die just lately. Electronics Technician 1st Class Ryan DeKorte, 35, who was assigned to an East Coast-based Naval Particular Warfare unit, died in early Might “after sustaining accidents after a helicopter touchdown incident throughout joint coaching at Joint Expeditionary Base Little Creek-Fort Story.”
Much less info was out there Monday on the reason for the crash that killed Bullock, the Tremendous Hornet pilot, who the Navy says “was flying a routine coaching mission on the time earlier than his plane [went] down in a distant, unpopulated space” west of Demise Valley Nationwide Park.
Though the Navy says no civilians have been harmed because of this incident, it’s also the fourth F/A-18 crash within the space in three years.
In August 2019, a F/A-18E Tremendous Hornet assigned to Strike Fighter Squadron 151, additionally based mostly out of Lemoore, slammed right into a rock wall in Rainbow Canyon in Demise Valley Nationwide Park, killing its pilot and injuring some close by vacationers.
Then, in October 2020, there have been two extra Tremendous Hornet crashes. The primary occurred on Oct. 4 when a F/A-18F Tremendous Hornet assigned to the Air Check and Analysis Squadron 9, based mostly at Naval Air Weapons Station China Lake, crashed at Demise Valley. Two weeks later, on Oct. 19, one other Lemoore-based Tremendous Hornet crashed close to China Lake. In each of those incidents, the pilots safely ejected.
Lemoore, based on its web site, hosts “greater than half” of the Navy’s F/A-18E/F Tremendous Hornet fleet and, on common, conducts 210,000 flights per 12 months.
The Navy’s assertion on Sunday mentioned that the service “mourns this tragic loss” of Bullock alongside his “household, pals and shipmates.”
— Konstantin Toropin might be reached at konstantin.toropin@army.com. Comply with him on Twitter @ktoropin.
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