Two naval aviators are safe after their U.S. Navy T-45C Goshawk crashed around 12:30 p.m. Central in Mississippi.
The aviators ejected safely and are being evaluated at a local medical center, according to a release from Chief of Naval Air Training.
The aviators are assigned to Training Air Wing 1. The release did not say where the flight originated. Training Air Wing 1 is based out of Naval Air Station Meridian, Miss.
The plane crashed on private farmland in Noxubee County, Miss. Military police and local emergency services are securing the site, according to the Navy news release.
The cause of the crash is under investigation. Chief of Naval Air Training temporarily paused flight operations at Training Air Wing 1. The other training air wings are operating normally.
The cause of the crash is under investigation. The Navy did not say if there would be a safety stand down following the crash.
The Navy resumed using the T-45C Goshawk as a training aircraft in May 2024 after a one-month pause due to an in-flight mishap from an engine malfunction, USNI News previously reported. The aircraft were also grounded in 2022 for an engine malfunction.
In September 2021, a T-45C Goshawk, assigned to Training Air Wing 2, crashed in a residential Texas neighborhood, injuring the naval aviators aboard. Two naval aviators – a trainer and student – died in a 2018 T-45C Goshawk crash, with the Navy determining reckless flying was the leading cause of the collision.
The Goshawk has been the Navy’s carrier trainer since the early 1990s. The service released a final request for proposal for the Undergraduate Jet Training System (UJTS) in April. The new trainer is due to be selected next year, according to a report in Breaking Defense.
This is the second Navy plane crash in May. On May 17, four naval aviators were forced to eject from their EA-18G Growlers after they crashed during an Idaho air show. As a result, U.S. Naval Air Forces implemented a safety stand down for all tactical demonstration teams. The Navy has not yet announced an end for the stand down.
