A U.S. Air Force T-38 training jet crashed in Alabama on May 12, after its two pilots safely ejected.
The Airmen were flying a routine training mission from Columbus Air Force Base, Miss., when the pilots determined they had to eject around 12 p.m. local time, according to a statement from the base’s 14th Flying Training Wing.
“The cause of the mishap is currently unknown and will be investigated by a Safety Investigation Board,” the wing said in its statement.
The T-38 is a two-seat, supersonic trainer for future fighter and bomber pilots. Around 475 remain in service, most of them T-38C variants with upgraded avionics and reshaped engine inlets.
The fleet is nearly six decades old, however, and suffers from poor readiness rates and diminishing sources for spare parts. Designed to teach Airmen to fly third-generation fighters like the F-100 Super Sabre, F-105 Thunderchief, and F-4 Phantom, the T-38 lacks the capabilities to prepare new pilots for the demands of flying fifth-gen fighters like the F-22 Raptor and F-35 Lightning II.
“In the 1960s, aircraft were difficult to fly and their weapons were relatively simple to employ—and the T-38 was designed with that in mind,” Air Education & Training Command boss Lt. Gen. Clark Quinn said in January. “Today, the opposite is true: Aircraft are easier to fly, but mastering the complex information and weapon systems is the key skill our pilots must possess.”
The T-38 will eventually be phased out in favor of the new T-7A Red Hawk, which officials say is better equipped to train pilots for advanced aircraft. The Air Force recently awarded a $219 million deal to Boeing to start building the first production T-7s.
The May 12 incident is the first known T-38 crash in several years. In November 2022, two mishaps in the span of two weeks at Columbus led to one T-38 crashing and another landing with its landing gear up. The crash was caused by a bird strike that shattered the canopy and sent debris into the jet’s engines, a subsequent investigation determined.
Prior to that, there were two fatal T-38 crashes in 2021: one in February at Dannelly Field, Ala., killing a USAF instructor and Japanese student, and one in November at Laughlin Air Force Base, Texas, killing a USAF student pilot.