After three crashes, two of which were fatal, the US Navy has said it will ground all non-deployed aircraft for a day Monday to focus on safety protocols.
The plane has been grounded after crashes within a seven-day period in California this month resulted in six deaths. The day will be used to “review risk management practices and provide training on threat and error management processes,” the Navy said on Saturday.
“To maintain the readiness of our forces, we must ensure that the safety of our people remains one of our top priorities,” the navy said, adding that the deployed units would also conduct a security assessment at “the earliest possible opportunity”.
On June 3, a Navy pilot was killed after his F/A-18E Super Hornet crashed in a remote uninhabited area near Trona, California, about 170 miles northeast of Los Angeles. The pilot, Lieutenant Richard Bullock, was on a training mission, the Navy said.
On June 8, another military plane crashed, killing five US Marines. The Marine Corps said: the plane, an MV-22B Osprey belonging to the 3rd Marine Aircraft Wing, crashed near Glamis, California, more than 240 miles east of San Diego.
The next day, a Navy helicopter crashed near El Centro, California, more than 100 miles east of San Diego. The helicopter, an MH-60S Seahawk, was also conducting a training flight, the Navy said. All four crew members survived. One was taken to a hospital for injuries that were not life-threatening, the Navy said.
Authorities have said they are investigating all three crashes, each of which occurred during routine drills. So far there is nothing connecting the crashes, Cmdr. Zach Harrell, a San Diego-based Naval Air Forces spokesperson, said.
“If there is anything that the research shows that there is a connection, it will be addressed immediately,” he said.
He said there have been safety breaks before, usually after there had been several crashes in a short period of time. The last time the Navy laid down non-deployed aircraft for security reasons was in October 2020, Commander Harrell said. The grounding followed two crashes, one of which resulted in two deaths.
There have been nine of what the military considers the most serious crashes this year — one resulting in property damage of $2.5 million or more, fatalities or permanent total disabilities — in the Navy and Marine Corps, Commander Harrell added.
He characterized the most recent crashes as “unusual.”
In March, four Marines were killed in Norway during a NATO exercise. They flew an MV-22B, the same plane that crashed on June 8.
In late March, a small Navy plane, an E-2D Hawkeye, also crashed off the east coast of Virginia, killing one crew member and injuring two others.
On Friday, the US Marine Corps released the names of those killed in the June 8 crash: Cpl. Nathan E. Carlson, 21; Captain Nicholas P. Losapio, 31; cpl. Seth D. Rasmuson, 21; Lance Kpl. Evan A. Strickland, 19; and Capt. John J. Sax, 33, the son of Steve Sax, the former Los Angeles Dodgers baseball player.
Mr Sax said on Instagram that his son loved being a Marine. “He loved to serve this country,” wrote Mr Sax. “He is and remains my hero.”
Luke Vander Ploeg reporting contributed.