Crew ejects before Navy jet crashes

PENDLETON, Ore. – A Navy jet crashed in the remote northeastern corner of Oregon during a routine training mission Friday but all four crew members on board survived, officials said.

The EA-6B Prowler from the Naval Air Station at Whidbey Island crashed north of Pendleton near the Washington border just before 11:30 a.m., according to Navy and Umatilla County officials.

All four crew members ejected safely, said Kimberly Martin, a Navy spokeswoman at Whidbey Island, near Seattle.

The Navy said Friday it will ground all its aircraft for half a day next week for an internal safety review. It is the first time since September 1997 that such a pause in flight operations across the Navy has been ordered. Grounding the flights is not related to any specific problem, the Navy said.

Since Oct. 1, there have been nine major crashes that resulted in loss of life or of the aircraft. Nine aircraft were destroyed, and 10 naval aviators were killed.

Two of the crew members in Friday’s crash walked away, while the other two required assistance, according to Oregon State Police troopers at the scene.

All four airmen were transported to St. Anthony’s Hospital in Pendleton where they were treated and released for minor injuries.

One of the airmen had a broken leg, while the other three suffered various cuts and bruises, said hospital spokeswoman Gloria Larson.

The cause of the accident was under investigation.

The plane was flying at low altitude but there is “not typically anything in the area that perhaps it would have hit,” said Cheryl Seigal, spokeswoman for the Umatilla County Sheriff’s Office.

Training runs by military aircraft are common in the area, Seigal told Northwest Cable News.

Authorities closed the crash site because of potentially hazardous fibers, a state trooper told the East Oregonian newspaper.