A small U.S. Navy plane crashed on Wednesday evening along Virginia’s Eastern Shore, killing one crew member and injuring two others, the authorities said.
The plane, an E-2D Hawkeye, crashed at about 7:30 p.m. near Wallops Island and Chincoteague, Va., the Navy said in a brief statement early Thursday morning. The Associated Press quoted a Navy officer as saying that the plane had been conducting routine flight operations.
The plane crashed in Chincoteague Bay near the Eastern Shore boundary of Virginia and Maryland, The A.P. reported, citing the Fire Department in Ocean City, Md. The crash site is about 150 miles southeast of Washington, D.C.
One crew member was found dead in the aircraft, the Navy’s statement said, adding that divers from the Fire Department in Worcester County, Md., helped to recover the body. The other two crew members were rescued by the Maryland State Police and sent to Wallops Island to receive treatment for injuries that were not life-threatening, the statement said.
The Navy said the crash was under investigation. It did not release the names of the crew members, saying only that their plane had been assigned to an East Coast Airborne Command and Control Squadron. The A.P. said the plane had been based at Naval Station Norfolk, the world’s largest naval complex.
A Navy spokesman said by telephone early Thursday that he had no further comment. A call to the Fire Department in Ocean City rang unanswered.
The E-2 Hawkeye series includes planes that are typically used for surveillance, air interdiction and other early warning functions, according to the Navy. E-2 planes have space for a crew of five. The E-2D is a recent model and is about 57 feet long.
U.S. Navy aircraft have been involved several crashes since the start of the year.
Last month, a helicopter operated by a military contractor crashed during a training mission at a U.S. Naval Facility in Hawaii, killing all four people on board.
Source: NY Times
