If 2020 couldn’t get any worse, an Air Force fighter pilot died on June 30th, after his F-16 fighter jet crashed on base while performing a routine training mission in South Carolina.
Emergency crews on the runway at Shaw Air Force Base after a F16 crashed Tuesday night. The pilot was taken to a nearby hospital for treatment. pic.twitter.com/umSpNMRV3G
— JR Berry WLTX 🇺🇸 (@JRBerryWLTX) July 1, 2020
“The pilot of the F-16CM that crashed at approximately 2330 on June 30, 2020, during a routine training mission here at Shaw Air Force Base, S.C., was pronounced dead,” the 20th Fighter Wing said in a statement, according to CBS News.
The incident happened at night and is the fourth U.S. fighter jet crash since May 2020 coming out of the Shaw Air Force Base. The pilot’s identity is currently being withheld so they can notify all the family members first and as of right now an investigation has been launched to figure out why the jet crashed.
It was just last month on May 19th that an F-35A Lightning II that costs $90 million crashed while attempting to land at Eglin Air Force Base in Florida. That jet was assigned to the 58th Fighter Squadron and that pilot, fortunately, ejected from the aircraft.
And before that, an F-22 fighter jet crashed 12 miles away from the same base while also performing a routine training flight. That fighter pilot also, fortunately, ejected from the aircraft.