The US Air Force said on Sunday that the two people who died in a military plane crash in Alabama on Friday were a flight instructor and a student pilot in the Japanese Air Force for Self Defense.
The Air Force released the name of the instructor who died when the T-38C Talon training plane crashed on Friday near Montgomery. He was identified as Scot Ames Jr., a 24-year-old instructor pilot from the 50th Flight Training Squadron at Columbus Air Force Base, Mississippi. He was from Pekin, Indiana.
A similar T-38C Talon crashed on May 1 at Sheppard Air Force Base, Texas.
(US Air Force photo / Steve White)
The name of the pilot student was not released at the time and will be provided according to the Japanese process.
Columbus Air Force Base hosts the 14th Flight Training Wing. The wing’s mission is the specialized training of undergraduate pilots.
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“We are a close-knit family and the loss of two of our teammates affects all of us,” Col. Seth Graham, commander of the 14th Flying Training Wing, said at a news conference on Saturday.
“The strength of our bond is what will help us overcome this together. My thoughts and prayers are with your families, friends and our teammates today.”
The cause of the incident is under investigation. The pilots were flying on a training mission. The jet crashed around 5:30 pm on Friday near Dannelly Field in Montgomery.
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Marshall Taggart, executive director of Montgomery Regional Airport, told the media that the aircraft crashed in a wooded area near the airport. Taggart said there are houses in the area, but the jet did not hit any structures.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.