Some of the nation's best pilots fly in the military and typically, they log thousands of flight hours with no incidents at all, but now three times in six months, military jets and helicopters have crashed.
A week ago, a Navy Sea Dragon Helicopter crashed into the frigid Atlantic about 18 miles off the coast of Virginia Beach. Five men were aboard, but three did not survive.
Last night, Navy crews located the body of one of the pilots, Lt. Sean Christopher Snyder. They found him in the wreckage.
The other pilot, Lt. Wesley Van Dorn was rescued after the crash, but died at the hospital. He was a 2007 of Naval Academy graduate.
25-year-old petty officer Brian Collins also died in the hospital. He was from California.
In August, a pair of Air National Guard F-16s clipped wings off the Eastern Shore. One pilot ejected and his jet crashed. He was rescued by a Coast Guard air crew.
And the crash everyone remembers: A malfunctioning F/A-18 jet plummeted into the Mayfair Mews Apartments on April 6, 2012. The stricken Super Hornet destroyed several apartment buildings off Birdneck Road near 24th Street. Two aviators ejected and survived with minor injuries. And images of neighbors pitching in to help fire crews made international news. No one on the ground was killed.
Click here for more of our team coverage on today’s crash.
Click here for more information on last week’s fatal helo crash.
