A T-6 Texan II trainer crashed at approximately 5:50 p.m. July 9 in a sparsely populated area of Webster County, Miss., about 40 miles west of Columbus Air Force Base, according to a July 10 release from the 14th Flying Training Wing at Columbus. The pilot, an international officer whose name was withheld pending coordination with the appropriate embassy, ejected safely. The officer was participating in the Aviation Leadership Program, which provides undergraduate flying training. According to the release, the 14th FTW planned to continue T-1A and T-38C pilot training operations today with T-6A operations expected to resume this weekend. The Air Force has convened a board to investigate the accident.
It is critical that the Air Force move forward on the replacement for its E-4B “Doomsday” aircraft to keep the capability “viable” into the next decade and beyond, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Charles Q. Brown Jr. told lawmakers May 8.