more info- C&P from kgw.com
Two pilots die in military jet collision over Gorge
06:06 PM PDT on Wednesday, July 21, 2004
By ABE ESTIMADA, ANTONIA GIEDWOYN, and TERESA BELL, kgw.com Staff
ARLINGTON, Ore. – Two Marine pilots died after their two jets struck in a fiery collision over the Columbia Gorge on Wednesday afternoon.
Witnesses said the military jets that collided looked like this Navy F-18 Hornet.
A third crew member survived the accident and was taken to Mid-Columbia Medical Center in The Dalles, said Deputy Chris Fitzsimmons of the Gilliam County Sheriff’s Office.
Fitzsimmons said one of the aviators involved was found dead on the Oregon side of the river, while the other was on the Washington side.
Mid-Columbia Medical Center spokeswoman Yvonne Arbogast said a pilot who survived was being evaluated by doctors in the emergency room.
She said she didn't have a list of injuries, but said the man was speaking and coherent.
Arbogast said the pilot was brought into the medical center at about 4:30 p.m.
The Oregon Air National Guard said two of the aviators were piloting an F-18D, which is a two-seat aircraft, and one aviator was operating an F-18C, which is a single seat jet. Both planes crashed into the Columbia River, said the Oregon National Guard.
It is unknown what caused the planes to collide, and the identities of the pilots have not be released by the military pending notification of next of kin.
The F-18s were based at Miramar Marine Corp. Air Station near San Diego, Calif., said the Oregon National Guard. They arrived on July 11 with seven jets for a two-week deployment. They were to participate in an annual training mission at the Portland Air Base.
An eyewitness captured a picture of one of the pilots parachuting from the collision.
The Guard launched a CH-47 Chinook helicopter from Pendleton and two UH-60 Blackhawk helicopters from Salem to assist in any fashion they can, said Capt. Mike Braibish of the Oregon National Guard.
Jeremy Takala said he and his companions were fishing when they heard two, loud explosions overhead. He said he helped pull a dead pilot from the river.
“He was gone when we got there,” Takala said. “His back was broken, and it looked like his face was burned up.”
Takala said there was so much debris falling that he was afraid his group was going to be struck.
One witness, Arlington resident Shelly Scott, said she spoke to the pilot who survived the crash.
She said the pilot parachuted to a ridge about 200 to 300 yards west of Arlington. He appeared to have hurt his leg, and complained of pain in his neck and back, Scott said.
Smoke was seen in the area over the jet collision.
"He said once he landed he got up and walked around a bit, then he decided it would be better if he laid back down," Scott said of the pilot.
She said the pilot told her he was the only one in his plane, whereas there were two people in the other plane.
Witnesses said they saw a fireball in the sky, heavy smoke over the Gorge and debris strewn over the water. Rescue crews on land, river and air were searching the area on both sides of the Columbia.
“There is debris in the Columbia river from those jets when they collided,” said KGW meteorologist Dave Salesky, who was driving in the Gorge when he saw the explosion. “The air out here is thick with jet fuel over I-84.”
Witnesses reported hearing a "big boom," then seeing a fiery explosion in the sky, said Fitzsimmons, the agency's emergency management coordinator.
Witness John Woodward, described seeing a blast in the sky.
“I saw the plane and then a flash in the sky and saw the plane plummet with lots of thick smoke and the plane spiral toward earth, and then I noticed a parachute," Woodward said. "I followed it... got to the entry point in the Columbia River, probably five or six miles away, watched a boat pulled a gentleman out of the water…His parachute was deployed but he hit the water pretty hard."
Fitzsimmons said debris from the planes landed as far away as Interstate 84, eight miles south of Arlington.
Debris from the incident could include fuel, metal and composite carbon fibers, said Chuck Donaldson, emergency response manager for the Oregon Department of Environmental Quality.
"Normally the fuel in those things tends to burn up in the crash or evaporate on the ground very quickly," Donaldson said.
The other material would also be unlikely to have much of an environmental impact because it is so widely dispersed, he said.
Oregon State Police asked anyone who discovers debris from the crash to leave it alone, said trooper Mike Kesler.
"We are asking they secure and mark the area of the debris," Kesler said.
Different types of Hornets
The F-18 costs about $57 million and has either one or two seats depending on the version. It was first test-flown in 1978. It is used by the Navy and Marine Corps and several countries including Canada, Australia, Spain, Kuwait, Switzerland, Finland and Malaysia.
In the American arsenal the F-18 replaced the F-4 Phantom II, the A-7 Corsair and the A-6 Intruder as those planes were phased out of service in the 1990s.
They are designed for air-to-air and air-to-ground combat.
