Guard Suspends Training Flights After Six Deaths
WASHINGTON — The Air National Guard announced Thursday that it has suspended most of its training flights because of recent accidents that killed six crew members.
The suspension, which began immediately and affects 1,262 planes nationwide, is expected to last through the end of next week, Pentagon spokesman Pete Williams said.
Air National Guard and active-duty Air Force officials will meet next week to discuss ways to “determine the proper course” for resuming flights, Williams said.
Since Oct. 1, the Air National Guard has reported eight training flight accidents resulting in six fatalities, Williams said.
Three crashes occurred in a five-day period this month. The most recent was Wednesday, when two F-15 fighters from the 116th Tactical Fighter Wing at Dobbins Air Force Base, Ga., crashed in the Great Smoky Mountains in Tennessee. There were no casualties.
An A-7D aircraft from the 150th Tactical Fighter Group at Kirtland Air Force Base, N.M., crashed on Saturday, killing one person. An F-16C aircraft from the 184th Tactical Fighter Group at McConnell Air Force Base, Kan., crashed on Monday. No one died in that crash.
The suspension affects F-16s, F-15s, RF-4s, A-7s, A-10s, F-4s and OA-10s. It does not affect tanker, transport and rescue missions, officials said.
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